Russia’s foreign ministry condemned the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
Gaddafi’s legal team announced his death on Tuesday, as per Al Jazeera. Libyan media reported that four masked men broke into his home in Zintan, 85 miles southwest of the capital, and killed him.
“We strongly condemn this crime. We hope a thorough investigation will be conducted and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, as per AFP.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for four decades, during which time his son Seif al-Islam played a prominent part in the country’s domestic and foreign politics despite not holding public office.
Gaddafi was a close ally of the Soviet Union prior to its fall in 1991, and maintained cordial relations with Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power. When Gaddafi was captured and summarily executed by rebels in 2011, during the Arab Spring, Putin condemned his killing.
In June 2011, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Seif al-Islam Gaddafi on two counts of crimes against humanity: murder and persecution, allegedly committed earlier that year as part of a brutal crackdown on Libyan rebels. Gaddafi was captured shortly after his fdeath and – rather than being transferred to the Hague – was imprisoned in Libya.
The younger Gaddafi was sentenced to death by a Libyan court in 2015 – but, as the civil war continued, the public appetite for retribution waned. He was released as part of an amnesty agreement two years later, and still wanted by the ICC at the time of his death.
In 2020, Bloomberg reported that two Russian operatives had been arrested in Tripoli after attempting to restore Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to power. Libya, which holds Africa’s largest oil reserves, has remained unstable since Gaddafi’s father’s regime was deposed – and the Kremlin was reportedly seeking to expand its influence in the region.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, former head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, is said to have been a key backer of the scheme. Prigozhin died in a helicopter crash in 2023 after leading an ill-fated mutiny against Putin, of whom he had formerly been a favorite.