Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Son of Late Libyan Leader, Killed in Zintan

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed in the western city of Zintan, where he had resided for years. The reported death was confirmed on Tuesday by his political adviser, Abdullah Othman.

According to Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Libya, Ahmed Khalifa, the 53-year-old is believed to have been shot. The attackers and exact circumstances surrounding the killing remain unclear, and Libyan authorities have not yet issued an official statement.

Although he never held a formal government position, Saif al-Islam was widely regarded as the de facto second-in-command to his father during the last decade of the regime, from roughly 2000 until its collapse in 2011.

His father, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed by opposition forces during the 2011 uprising. Following the regime’s fall, Saif al-Islam was captured and imprisoned in Zintan until his release in 2017. He had lived in the city since that time.