The late Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
By agency reports
Saif al-Islam, the son of the late former President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, has been shot dead.
The younger Gaddafi, aged 53, was killed on Tuesday, by yet to be identified assailants in the western Libyan city of Zintan.
The late Saif al-Islam, once widely seen as his father’s heir apparent, has been living in the city for the past decade.
The Libyan News Agency quoted the head of his political team as announcing his death on Tuesday.
Also confirming the tragic development, his sister told Libyan TV that her brother had died near the country’s border with Algeria.
She however did not disclose how he died.
Also, Khaled al-Mishri, a former head of the Tripoli-based High State Council, an internationally recognised government body, called for an “urgent and transparent investigation” into the killing of Saif al-Islam in a social media post.
The deceased former Libyan first son never had an official position in Libya.
He was however long seen as the most influential and feared figure in the country after his father.
His father ruled Libya from 1969 until being ousted and killed during an uprising in 2011.
The younger Gaddafi was captured and imprisoned in Zintan in 2011 after attempting to flee the North African country following the opposition’s takeover of Tripoli.
He was released in 2017 as part of a general pardon.
