Libya Murdered son of Gaddafi was a threat to ruling elite

The assassination of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, is a reminder of both how violent Libya remains more than 15 years after the late dictator’s demise - and how much Saif had come to be perceived as a threat to Libya’s governing elite.

- Patrick Wintour

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, pictured above as a child with his father

(SEAN SMITH/SHUTTERSTOCK)

Gaddafi, 53, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen who stormed his house in Zintan on Tuesday. His political office quickly demanded an impartial inquiry into his death, casting doubt on the ability of the UN-backed government based in Tripoli to mount such an investigation.

The current Tripoli-based prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, holds on to power even though a UN-led process in 2021 had only intended to install him as an interim leader pending new elections that never happened.

As a result, Libya remains divided between an authoritarian east led by the family of the warlord Khalifa Haftar and the UN-recognised west that is trying to demonstrate that the country has shed its violent past.

But Saif al-Islam’s difficulty was that he did not fit neatly into this picture of a country divided in two.