Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, slain leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, assassinated in western Libya

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed on Tuesday (local time) in an armed attack in western Libya, Xinhua reported, citing a statement from his political team.

According to the Associated Press, his office said in a statement that four unknown masked gunmen broke into Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's home on Tuesday in Zintan and killed him in a “direct confrontation.” 

Further details were not made public.

According to Xinhua, Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, a member of Gaddafi's team, announced the incident on Facebook, stating that four masked gunmen stormed his residence in the city of Zintan at noon.

The attackers allegedly disabled surveillance cameras before a "direct armed confrontation" took place, leading to Gaddafi's death.

The political team has urged the Libyan judiciary and the international community to investigate the attack, identify the perpetrators, and hold accountable those who "masterminded" the operation.

Authorities in Tripoli and Zintan have not yet officially confirmed the details of the incident, Xinhua reported.

Further details awaited.

Who was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi?

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had remained a prominent and polarising figure in Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ended his father's rule.

Educated at the London School of Economics and a fluent English speaker, he was once seen by many governments as the acceptable, Western-friendly face of Libya.

Despite holding no official position, Gaddafi was once seen as the most powerful figure in the oil-rich North African country after his father, Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled for more than four decades.

Gaddafi shaped policy and mediated high-profile, sensitive diplomatic missions, AP reported. He led talks on Libya abandoning its weapons of mass destruction. He also negotiated compensation for the families of those killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

Determined to rid Libya of its pariah status, he engaged with the West and championed himself as a reformer, calling for a constitution and respect for human rights.

But when a rebellion broke out against his father's long rule in 2011, he immediately chose family and clan loyalties over his many friendships to become an architect of a brutal crackdown on rebels, whom he called rats.

In 2015, he was sentenced to death by firing squad by a court in Tripoli for war crimes. The International Criminal Court at The Hague also issued an arrest warrant against him for "murder and persecution".

After being released by the militia in 2017 under an amnesty law, Gaddafi spent years underground in Zintan to avoid assassination.

Killing of Muammar Gaddafi

Libya’s former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed by rebel fighters on 20 October 2011.

He had originally seized power in 1969 in a bloodless military coup. Over his four-decade control of Libya, he became known for his oppressive regime, human rights violations and support of militant groups, BBC reported.

Following the fall of Tunisian President Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, protests in Libya called for the ousting of Gaddafi. After being toppled from power in August 2011, Gaddafi was captured and killed by Libyan fighters.