AhlulBayt News Agency: France and the United Kingdom are reportedly implicated in the assassination of Saif al‑Islam Gaddafi, the prominent son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was widely viewed as a potential figure capable of reuniting Libya after the NATO‑backed uprising.
Saif al‑Islam was killed by unidentified gunmen who stormed his home in the town of Zintan on Tuesday.
His political team stated that “four masked men” carried out a “cowardly and treacherous assassination,” adding that he attempted to resist the attackers, who disabled the security cameras “in a desperate attempt to conceal their heinous crimes.”
British journalist Afshin Rattansi said, “Our sources on the ground in Libya suspect that British intelligence used local proxies to assassinate the man seen by many as capable of reuniting Libya, 15 years after NATO bombed the country into a failed state.”
He also suggested French involvement, noting that leaked documents show France sought a “greater share of Libya’s oil production” in 2011, with former President Nicolas Sarkozy negotiating to secure up to 35% of Libya’s oil output.
According to Rattansi, Saif al‑Islam was considered “the most likely candidate to win any presidential election” and unite the country, especially as he had support from tribes that had originally opposed his father in 2011.
He added, “Watch now as the US, UK, and France push ahead with long‑delayed elections in Libya, now that the one leading candidate who would have united Libya—and refused to let it become a looted colony—is dead.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said Saif al‑Islam’s assassination occurred as France was reportedly preparing “neo‑colonial coups” in Africa and seeking opportunities for “political revenge” on the continent.
The SVR report said France’s influence in Africa is declining as nations refuse “to serve as puppets of the financial and political oligarchy of French globalists.”
The press bureau added that President Emmanuel Macron had authorized French intelligence to eliminate “undesirable leaders” in Africa, inspired by past US operations.
Libya has struggled with instability since 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed during a NATO‑backed uprising.
According to The Cradle, foreign intelligence services—including the UK—helped organize an armed force led by members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) to topple the Libyan government.
The al‑Qaeda‑linked LIFG, originally formed to fight alongside Osama bin Laden’s forces in Afghanistan, seized Tripoli and overthrew the regime.
After Gaddafi’s killing, his hometown fell under the control of Daesh, becoming its most significant base outside West Asia as Libya descended into civil war.
Saif al‑Islam, who served as his father’s close advisor from 2000 to 2011, was captured in Zintan after attempting to flee Libya following his father’s death.
He was released in 2017 under a general amnesty and had lived in Zintan since then.
The SVR also claimed that France was involved in an attempted coup against Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré, whose government distanced itself from Paris after the 2022 coup.
Burkina Faso’s security minister Mahamadou Sana said, “Our intelligence services intercepted this operation in its final hours. They planned to assassinate the head of state and strike other key institutions.”
Traoré later helped establish the Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The SVR added that France was also seeking to destabilize the governments of Mali, the Central African Republic, and Madagascar.
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