News|Muammar GaddafiSaif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former leader, killed in LibyaSaif al-Islam Gaddafi had been considered the number two leader in Libya before the 2011 death of his father, Muammar Gaddafi.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been reported killed in Libya. The incident occurred in the western city of Zintan, where Gaddafi had been residing for the past decade. Confirmation of his death was provided by Abdullah Othman, his political adviser. The precise details surrounding his death remain unclear.

Khaled al-Mishri, former head of the Tripoli-based High State Council, has called for an urgent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death. The High State Council is an internationally recognized government body in Libya.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who held no official position in Libya, was considered his father's second in command from 2000 until 2011. Following the opposition's capture of Tripoli, he was detained in Zintan in 2011 and subsequently released in 2017 under a general pardon.

Gaddafi was educated in the West and obtained a PhD from the London School of Economics in 2008, focusing on the role of civil society in global governance reform. He played a significant role in Libya's efforts to improve relations with Western countries in the early 2000s.

Gaddafi was implicated in numerous allegations of violence against opponents of his father's regime. In 2011, he was placed on a United Nations sanctions list and was subject to a travel ban. He faced charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity. In 2015, a Tripoli court sentenced him to death in absentia for war crimes.

After his release in 2017, Gaddafi resided in Zintan, remaining largely underground to avoid assassination. However, from 2016, he was permitted to communicate with individuals both within and outside Libya.

Based on reporting by Al Jazeera.