PROFILE – One-time heir apparent, Saif al-Islam’s journey from Libya’s power to death

By Muetaz Wannes

ISTANBUL (AA) – Once an heir apparent of his father in Libya’s power, the life of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, went through striking turns that ended with his death in mysterious circumstances.

Libyan official said that Saif al-Islam, 53, was killed in the western city of Zintan on Tuesday.

Libyan media reported that Saif al-Islami was shot dead by four masked men, while CCTV cameras at his residence were disabled prior to the killing.

Moussa Ibrahim, a former spokesman of Gaddafi’s government, said Saif al-Islam was “killed treacherously,” adding that he sought “a united, sovereign and safe Libya for all its people.”

Ibrahim said he had spoken with Saif al-Islam two days earlier and that his only concern was Libya’s stability and the safety of its citizens.

Born on June 5, 1972, inside the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, the seat of power of his father’s rule, Saif al-Islam was the oldest son of Gaddafi from his second wife, Safia Farkash.

He completed his primary education at Omar ibn al-Khattab School in the Bab Akkara area of Tripoli, followed by middle school at Martyr Mohammed al-Maqrif School, before graduating from Ali Wreith Public High School.

Saif al-Islam studied architecture and earned his degree in 1994 from the Faculty of Engineering at Al-Fateh University in Tripoli. He later studied economics at IMAD University in Austria, earning a master’s degree in 2000. He also earned a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

- Political rise

His public profile initially grew outside formal politics. In 2003, he became chairman of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations and Development, which was established in 1998 and played a role in addressing several international disputes.

Through the foundation, Saif al-Islam led reconciliation efforts between his father’s government and political detainees, particularly Islamist prisoners, which resulted in the release of large numbers of inmates.

The foundation also launched an anti-torture campaign in Libya and the Middle East. In 2006, it visited detention facilities and issued recommendations aimed at improving prison conditions and providing medical care to detainees.

Politically, Saif al-Islam emerged as the face of a reform-oriented current within the Gaddafi regime.

In August 2006, he called for a permanent constitution for Libya, which at the time had none. He later promoted an ambitious initiative known as “Libya Tomorrow” and appeared increasingly as his father’s political successor.

In 2007, he founded the Libya Tomorrow Foundation, which launched a satellite television channel and two newspapers, Oea in Tripoli and Quryna in Benghazi. The publications were seen as unprecedented in Libya for their relatively wide latitude to criticize government officials and report on sensitive issues.

- Amnesty

That trajectory collapsed in 2011, when an armed uprising toppled the Gaddafi regime. Saif al-Islam was captured on Nov. 19, 2011, in a desert area near the town of Ubari, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Sabha, by fighters from the western mountain town of Zintan.

He was held for years in a secret prison in Zintan run by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade.

In June 2017, the group announced his release, saying it was carried out under a general amnesty law passed by Libya’s House of Representatives.

The Libyan parliament approved the general amnesty law in 2015, covering crimes committed from Feb. 15, 2011, the start of the uprising, until the law’s issuance. Officials later said the law also applied to Saif al-Islam.

On June 27, 2011, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam, accusing him of crimes against humanity during the uprising. The court has repeatedly demanded that Libyan authorities hand him over for trial.

In July 2015, Tripoli’s Court of Appeal sentenced Saif al-Islam to death in absentia after convicting him of suppressing the uprising.

Two years ago, Saif al-Islam reappeared publicly for the first time in a video announcing his bid for Libya’s presidency in elections that have yet to take place. At the time, some observers described him as a leading contender.

*Writing by Lina Altawell