BANI WALID, Libya: Thousands converged on Friday in northwestern Libya for the funeral of Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya’s late leader Muammar Qaddafi, who was killed earlier this week when four masked assailants stormed into his home and fatally shot him.
Mourners carried his coffin in the town of Bani Walid, 146 kilometers (91 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli, as well as large photographs of both Seif Al-Islam, who was known mostly by his first name, and his father.
The crowd also waved plain green flags, Libya’s official flag from 1977 to 2011 under Qaddafi, who ruled the country for more than 40 years before being toppled in a NATO-backed popular uprising in 2011. Qaddafi was killed later that year in his hometown of Sirte as fighting in Libya escalated into a full-blown civil war.
As the funeral procession got underway and the crowds swelled, a small group of supporters took Seif Al-Islam’s coffin away and later performed the funeral prayers and buried him.
Attackers at his home
Seif Al-Islam, 53, was killed on Tuesday inside his home in the town of Zintan, 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli, according to Libyan’s chief prosecutor’s office.
Authorities said an initial investigation found that he was shot to death but did not provide further details. Seif Al-Islam’s political team later released a statement saying “four masked men” had stormed his house and killed him in a “cowardly and treacherous assassination,” after disabling security cameras.
Seif Al-Islam was captured by fighters in Zintan late in 2011 while trying to flee to neighboring Niger. The fighters released him in June 2017, after one of Libya’s rival governments granted him amnesty.
“The pain of loss weighs heavily on my heart, and it intensifies because I can’t bid him farewell from within my homeland — a pain that words can’t ease,” Seif Al-Islam’s brother Mohamed Qaddafi, who lives in exile outside Libya though his current whereabouts are unknown, wrote on Facebook on Friday.
“But my solace lies in the fact that the loyal sons of the nation are fulfilling their duty and will give him a farewell befitting his stature,” the brother wrote.
Since the uprising that toppled Qaddafi, Libya plunged into chaos during which the oil-rich North African country split, with rival administrations now in the east and west, backed by various armed groups and foreign governments.
Qaddafi’s heir-apparent
Seif Al-Islam was Qaddafi’s second-born son and was seen as the reformist face of the Qaddafi regime — someone with diplomatic outreach who had worked to improve Libya’s relations with Western countries up until the 2011 uprising.
The United Nations imposed sanctions on Seif Al-Islam that included a travel ban and an assets freeze for his inflammatory public statements encouraging violence against anti-Qaddafi protesters during the 2011 uprising. The International Criminal Court later charged him with crimes against humanity related to the 2011 uprising.
In July 2021, Seif Al-Islam told the New York Times that he’s considering returning to Libya’s political scene after a decade of absence during which he observed Middle East politics and reportedly reorganized his father’s political supporters.
He condemned the country’s new leaders. “There’s no life here. Go to the gas station — there’s no diesel,″ Seif Al-Islam told the Times.
In November 2021, he announced his candidacy in the country’s presidential election in a controversial move that was met with outcry from anti-Qaddafi political forces in western and eastern Libya.
The country’s High National Elections Committee disqualified him, but the election wasn’t held over disputes between rival administrations and armed groups.
Thousands of Libyans gather for the funeral of Qaddafi’s son who was shot and killed this week
https://arab.news/8ejs9
Thousands of Libyans gather for the funeral of Qaddafi’s son who was shot and killed this week
- As the funeral procession got underway and the crowds swelled, a small group of supporters took Seif Al-Islam’s coffin away and later performed the funeral prayers and buried him
- Authorities said an initial investigation found that he was shot to death but did not provide further details
Who is Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei?
- A shiite cleric and longtime political insider, Mojtaba became Iran’s third supreme leader on Sunday, ascending to Iran’s top position following the assassination of his father
DUBAI: Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, a Shiite cleric and longtime political insider, became Iran’s third supreme leader on Sunday, ascending to Iran’s top position following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His elevation to the country’s highest political and religious office marked a historic moment for the Islamic Republic, placing a member of the ruling family directly at the helm of the state.
It’s a move that some thought would be too reminiscent of a monarchy to take place. The Islamic Republic was founded in 1979 after the monarchy was overthrown and its ideology is based on the principle that the supreme leader should be chosen for his religious standing and proven leadership, not through hereditary succession.
According to the BBC, one member of Iran's Assembly of Experts - the clerical body that selects the supreme leader - said two years ago that Ali Khamenei opposed the idea of his son being a candidate for future leadership. But he had never publicly addressed such speculation.
For years, Mojtaba had been viewed as one of the most influential figures within Iran’s political establishment, operating largely behind the scenes while maintaining close ties with powerful security institutions, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
US diplomatic cables, which were published by WikiLeaks in the late 2000s, described him as "the power behind the robes" who was widely regarded as a "capable and forceful" figure within the regime, according to news agency AP.
Early Life
Born on Sept. 8, 1969, in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Mojtaba Khamenei grew up during a turbulent period in Iranian history. His father emerged as a key figure in the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and established the Islamic Republic.
As a child, Mojtaba witnessed the transformation of Iran’s political system and the rapid rise of his father within the revolutionary leadership. The Khamenei family traces its lineage to Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, a heritage that carries significant prestige within the Shiite clerical establishment.
Mojtaba received his early education in the northwestern Iranian cities of Sardasht and Mahabad before graduating from Alavi High School in Tehran. After completing his schooling, he pursued Islamic theology, studying under several prominent clerics including his father and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.
His religious studies later continued in the seminary city of Qom, one of the most important centers of Shiite scholarship, where he eventually became a teacher at the Qom Seminary.
Before fully dedicating himself to clerical life, Mojtaba joined the IRGC in the late 1980s during the final years of the Iran–Iraq War. As a young member of the IRGC’s Habib bin Muzahir Battalion, he reportedly participated in several military operations during the conflict.
Mojtaba married Zahra Haddad-Adel, the daughter of conservative politician Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, in 1999. The couple have three children.
According to Iranian government statements in 2026, several members of his family, including his wife, parents and one of his sons, were killed during US-Israeli strikes amid regional tensions.
Political positions
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mojtaba had emerged as an important figure within the inner circle of the Supreme Leader’s office. His influence became particularly visible during Iran’s 2009 presidential election crisis – where according to multiple reports including by the BBC and New York Times, Mojtaba had helped orchestrate the controversial reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supported the crackdown on the mass protests that followed.
Critics alleged he had close ties to the Basij paramilitary force, which was deployed to suppress demonstrations during what became known as the Green Movement. Mostafa Tajzadeh, the then-deputy interior minister, described the result as an "electoral coup". He was imprisoned for seven years, which he attributed to "the direct wish of Mojtaba Khamenei".
Two reformist candidates, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, were put under house arrest after the 2009 election. In February 2012, Mojtaba met and urged Mousavi to give up his protest, Iranian sources told BBC Persian.
Although Mojtaba rarely appeared in public and seldom delivered speeches, his perceived influence within the security establishment made him a central figure in Iran’s internal power structure.
In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Mojtaba, accusing him of acting on behalf of the supreme leader and maintaining close connections with Iran’s security apparatus and regional proxy networks.
Politically, Mojtaba is widely viewed as aligned with the ultraconservative wing of Iran. Patrick Clawson from The Washington institute said in a piece last week that Mojtabi would likely embrace a strategy of “defiant consolidation” that would rely on the IRGC to emphasize strategic depth through coercive power.
Moreover, Clawson said that Mojtaba could take a more hardline position towards the United States as a consequence of violent circumstances surrounding his succession – which has included the killing of many of his family members.
“He may take a deep existential view of foreign security threats, place even stronger emphasis on state power and resilience, and show even less inclination than his father to compromise with the United States,” he said.
“Particularly in the immediate term, he may be driven by raw, vengeful feelings that reinforce the Islamic Republic’s ideology of existential confrontation with America and Israel.”
Clerical criticism
Mojtaba is a mid-ranking cleric, which could pose an obstacle to his acceptance as the new supreme leader.
According to the BBC, before he was selected, some media outlets and officials close to centres of power in Iran began referring to Mojtaba Khamenei as "Ayatollah", a senior clerical title. The shift appeared to some observers as an attempt to elevate his religious standing and present him as a credible leader.
In the Iranian system, holding the rank of "Ayatollah" is considered one of the requirements and prerequisites for a future leader. His father, Ali Khamenei, was quickly promoted to "Ayatollah" after he became Iran's second supreme leader in 1989.
Wealth
A year-long investigation by Bloomberg, reported in January 2026 that Mojtabi is linked to an offshore financial network used to hold and move assets outside Iran.
The reported holdings included high-value real estate in London and Dubai, as well as interests connected to shipping, banking relationships, and hospitality assets in Europe.
According to the investigation, the assets were generally not held in Khamenei's name but structured through intermediaries, including those controlled by prominent business man Ali Ansari, and layered corporate entities across multiple jurisdictions. Some of these assets have since been sold or restructured amid increased scrutiny.
