Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of Libya’s former dictator Moammar Gaddafi, was shot dead in his own home on Tuesday. That writes Reuters news agency based on sources close to the 53-year-old Libyan. Four men allegedly entered his house and executed him. No further details are given about this “direct confrontation”.
Seif al-Islam was an influential figure during his father’s more than forty-year reign. Gaddafi’s second son was a frequent guest, especially to Western countries, who spoke in fluent English about reforms in the North African country, in an attempt to give Libya a better name.
After 2011, when an uprising broke out against his father’s regime, Seif al-Islam showed a different face, becoming partly responsible for the harsh repression against rebels. When the capital Tripoli was captured, he tried to flee the country, but was arrested and detained in the city of Zintan.
Arrest warrant
Seif-al Islam remained in prison until 2017, when he was released under an amnesty law. During his captivity, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for him for crimes against humanity.
In 2021, Seif al-Islam returned to the political scene in Libya when he announced his intention to run in the 2021 presidential elections. A judge eventually allowed him to run after he was initially barred by the country’s electoral council. Despite this, rebel groups, among others, continued to agitate against his candidacy, which ultimately failed when the electoral process in the country failed.
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