Thousands attend burial of slain son of Libya’s Gaddafi

Thousands turned out on Friday for the burial of the slain son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi in a town that still holds allegiance to the late longtime leader.

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, once seen by some as Libya's heir apparent, was shot dead in his home in the northwestern city of Zintan on Tuesday.

His burial in the town of Bani Walid, some 175 kilometres (110 miles) south of Tripoli, brought together thousands of Gaddafi loyalists, nearly 15 years after the ruler was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted since. It remains split between Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah's UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Khalifa Haftar.

Dbeibah condemned the killing, saying that "assassinations never provide stability... but rather deepen division".

His interior ministry had announced that it would "ensure the security of the funeral" in the town of some 100,000 people.

Each year, Bani Walid celebrates the anniversary of a 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power, with people parading through the streets with portraits of the ex-leader and Libya's green flag from before the Arab Spring uprising.

Ahead of the burial on Friday, locals also carried those portraits and flags while chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans and declaring that "the martyrs' blood will not be shed in vain".

Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who had been representing Seif al-Islam, told AFP a "four-man commando" killed him.

Authorities said they were probing his death as the assailants remained at large.

Saadi Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam's younger brother, said his dead sibling would be buried "next to his brother Khamis Gaddafi", who was killed during the 2011 unrest.

Under his father's iron-fisted 40-year rule, Seif al-Islam was described as the de facto prime minister, cultivating an image of moderation and reform despite holding no official position.

But that reputation soon collapsed when he promised "rivers of blood" in retaliation for the 2011 uprising.

He was arrested that year on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, and a Tripoli court sentenced him to death, although he was later granted amnesty.

In 2021 he announced he would run for president but the elections were indefinitely postponed.