Late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, has been killed: reports

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear

Published: February 3, 2026 3:01pm

Updated: February 3, 2026 3:02pm

Late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, has been killed, according to reports.

Sources close to the family, his lawyer Khaled el-Zaydi, and Libyan media said on Tuesday that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 53, had been killed, Reuters reported. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

Saif al-Islam was known for his role ‍in ⁠shaping policy before 2011, when his father was assassinated. Four years later, a Libyan court passed a death sentence in absentia on Saif al-Islam for suppressing peaceful protests during the country's 2011 revolution.

Also, he was provisionally charged by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.

Saif al-Islam registered as a presidential candidate in 2021 for a December election that eventually collapsed amid a political deadlock.

He lived underground for years in Zintan to avoid assassination after he was released by the militia in 2017 under an amnesty law, according to the newswire. Starting in 2016, he was allowed to contact people inside and outside Libya, according to Mustafa Fetouri, a Libyan analyst with contacts in Saif al-Islam's inner circle.