Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, known as the most prominent son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed, reports said on Wednesday, quoting sources close to the family, his lawyer Khaled el-Zaydi and Libyan media.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, once considered the heir apparent to his infamous father, is no longer with us. He held no official position. Despite this, Saif was widely seen as the most powerful figure in this oil-rich North African country after his autocratic father, Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for more than four decades.
Who was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi?
Saif al-Islam shaped Libyan policy under his dictatorial father. He mediated on Libya’s behalf in high-profile, sensitive diplomatic missions, and led negotiations with Western countries on Libya’s abandonment of weapons of mass destruction. Saif also negotiated compensation for the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
He wanted to bring Libya into the fold of the world. To rid Libya of its pariah status, Saif al-Islam worked with the West and promoted himself as a reformer. He demanded a constitution and respect for human rights. Significantly, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had studied at the London School of Economics and spoke fluent English. He was once seen by many governments as the acceptable, Western-friendly face of Libya. But when a rebellion broke out against Gaddafi’s long-standing rule in 2011, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalties over brutal crackdowns on the rebels. Reuters reports that speaking at the time of the uprising, he said: “We fight here in Libya, we die here in Libya.”
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