Seif al-Islam is the second son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. After his father died, he was the leader of the national resistance. But then he was captured and sentenced to death. He was released and tried to become a new leader and unite civil war-torn Libya. According to local media, he was murdered on February 3 at his home in Zintan city. It is still unclear who committed the crime.
Seif was born in Tripoli in 1972. He studied abroad and received a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Speak fluent English and German.
Safe was always close to his father, performing diplomatic functions on his behalf. Muammar Gaddafi considered his son an overly enthusiastic supporter of reform and democracy. But after being overthrown, it was he who tried to fight the Western-backed militants. “I will avenge my father's death,” he vowed.
In 2011, Seif was arrested by the Libyan interim government. In 2015, he was sentenced to death but the sentence was not carried out. During his imprisonment, Seif was tortured and mistreated. The International Criminal Court requested his extradition, charging him with “crimes against humanity.”
In 2016, Safe was suddenly launched. At that time, several warring factions in Libya decided that he could be the man who would end the internal conflict and bring peace to Libya. Residents of former Jamahiriya remember times of peace and security when their father was in power. They see Seif as Gaddafi's heir who can end the civil war.
Seif ran twice in the Libyan presidential election, but both times the vote was canceled. He remains active in the public sphere, but in recent years his political influence has diminished markedly.
“Politicians have raped this country, now it must kneel,” he said of Libya. “No money, no safety, no life.”
“The Obama administration is responsible for the destruction of Libya, not my father's government,” he noted, calling on all forces to unite. “We are like fish, and the Libyan people are our sea. Without them, we would die. We receive support from here: we hide here, we fight here, we strengthen ourselves here. Libyans are our ocean,” Seif said.
