His killing, confirmed by his lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi and political adviser Abdullah Othman, marks the end of a tumultuous journey for a man who transformed from Western-educated reformer to wanted war criminal, and who spent his final years pursuing an improbable political resurrection in a nation still scarred by his family's legacy.
The Reformer's Facade
Born in 1972 to Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash, Saif al-Islam was educated partly in the West and carefully cultivated an image as the acceptable, modern face of an otherwise brutal regime.
For years before the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed his father, he was considered the most powerful figure in Libya after Muammar Gaddafi himself. Though he held no formal government position, his influence was immense. He led sensitive diplomatic negotiations, including those that resulted in Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons program and paying compensation for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Western diplomats who dealt with him saw a potential partner — a figure who spoke of reform and human rights while his father's security apparatus tortured dissidents in secret prisons.
Rivers of Blood
That carefully constructed image shattered in February 2011 when pro-democracy protests swept across Libya as part of the Arab Spring. Rather than side with the reformers he had once claimed to represent, Saif al-Islam emerged as a fierce defender of his father's regime.
In a chilling televised address that would define his legacy, he warned that "rivers of blood would flow" if the uprising continued and pledged that the government would "fight to the last man and woman and bullet."
The International Criminal Court opened an investigation following UN Security Council Resolution 1970, and on June 27, 2011, issued arrest warrants for Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi for crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution of civilians.
According to the ICC, Saif al-Islam was part of a plan conceived with his father "to deter and quell demonstrations by any means, including lethal force."
Capture and Years in Limbo
After Tripoli fell to rebel forces and his father was killed in October 2011, Saif al-Islam attempted to flee toward Niger. He was captured in November 2011 by fighters from Zintan — the same western Libyan town where he would meet his end 15 years later.
For years, he remained in detention as Libyan authorities and local armed groups resisted international demands to hand him over to the ICC. In 2015, a Tripoli court sentenced him to death in absentia in a mass trial of former regime officials — a process heavily criticized by human rights organizations for due-process violations.
He was released in 2017 under an amnesty granted by a rival Libyan government, but the ICC warrant remained in force. He was still wanted for crimes against humanity at the time of his death.
The Comeback That Never Was
Following his release, Saif al-Islam largely vanished from public view, remaining in hiding in Zintan to evade assassination attempts. But he never abandoned his political ambitions.
In November 2021, he attempted a dramatic comeback, announcing his candidacy for Libya's presidential election — his first public appearance in a decade. Electoral authorities initially rejected his bid, but a court in Sebha reinstated his candidacy. The elections were ultimately never held due to Libya's chronic political divisions.
He continued pursuing legitimacy through the ballot box. In November 2024, he claimed a "landslide victory" in municipal elections, accusing electoral authorities of attempting to thwart the popular will by delaying results.
As recently as April 2025, a reconciliation committee affiliated with him issued warnings about deteriorating security and the risk of renewed civil war, calling for inclusive national dialogue.
His political messaging combined calls for sovereignty and an end to militia rule with appeals to nostalgia for the Gaddafi era, which he presented as a period of order and national unity.
A Violent End
According to his political team, four masked gunmen stormed Gaddafi's home on Tuesday night, disabled security cameras, and killed him in what they described as a "cowardly and treacherous assassination." Al Arabiya reported that he was shot in the garden of his residence and died around 2:30 a.m. local time.
A statement from his team said a "direct confrontation ensued" during which Gaddafi attempted to fight off the attackers before being killed.
The Libyan Attorney General's Office has opened an investigation and announced the formation of a commission to travel to the scene. The 444 Combat Brigade, a Tripoli-based military unit, "categorically" denied any involvement, stating it has no presence in Zintan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the assassination.
A Divided Legacy
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's death removes one of the most polarizing figures from Libya's fractured political landscape. To some — particularly tribal networks and those nostalgic for pre-2011 stability — he represented a path to national reconciliation and a return to order. To others, especially victims of his father's regime and their families, he remained a war criminal who should have faced justice at The Hague.
Libya remains divided between rival governments and armed groups, with the UN-backed political roadmap for national elections still stalled. Whether Saif al-Islam's death will accelerate or further complicate that process remains to be seen.
What is certain is that the man once groomed to inherit Africa's largest oil reserves died in obscurity, hunted and hiding in the same town that had held him prisoner — his dreams of power unfulfilled, his crimes unanswered.
*The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Photo: Al Jazeera