Authorities in Libya have issued arrest warrants for three suspects linked to the assassination of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the country’s public prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday.
Investigators say they have identified three individuals involved in the killing and claim to know when and where the attack occurred, though officials have not yet released further details.
Saif al-Islam was killed on February 3 in the north-western city of Zintan. Authorities said initial findings indicate that he died from gunshot wounds.
His political team later said that four masked men stormed his residence, disabled security cameras and carried out what they described as a “cowardly and treacherous assassination.”
Saif al-Islam was the son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled the country for more than four decades before being overthrown and killed during the 2011 Libyan Revolution, an uprising backed by NATO.
Often viewed as the reform-minded figure of his father’s government, Saif al-Islam was captured during the conflict and later released in 2017. He had since been living in Zintan, despite being sentenced to death by a court in eastern Libya.
Since the civil war, Libya has remained divided between rival administrations in the east and west.
Authorities in Zintan had previously refused to hand him over to other factions. Among his supporters, Saif al-Islam became a symbol of reconciliation and national unity.
He announced plans to run in the country’s 2021 presidential election but was later disqualified. The vote, which was intended to unify the country under a United Nations-backed process, has since been postponed indefinitely.
