Coinciding with the fourteenth anniversary of the killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in the city of Sirte in 2011, an event that occurred amidst the February 17th uprising, his daughter, Aisha Gaddafi, has called for the handover of their remains, stressing that her family has been unable to hold a formal funeral mourning ceremony for them to this day.
In a message posted to her Instagram account, Aisha Gaddafi noted that her father had recorded his will before the attempt to break the siege of Sirte, affirming that he took up arms alongside his son and comrades. She asserted that her father was targeted by missiles from 44 nations, concluding that he “died a believer longing to meet God, and he departed standing.” She added, “On a day like this, my father, my brother Mutassim, and their brave comrades were martyred, and to this day, their bodies have not been delivered to us so we could mourn them. Their blood has not cooled, blood does not age, truth does not die, and the crime will not be forgotten.”
For his part, Saadi Gaddafi commented on the anniversary via his X account, describing it as “painful and dark in the history of Libya and the world,” expressing the inadequacy of language to convey the horror of “losing the nation’s leader.” He drew a parallel between his father’s killing and the assassination of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, may God be pleased with him.
In related family news, Lebanese authorities decided on October 17th to release Hannibal Gaddafi after nearly a decade of detention without trial. The Lebanese judiciary stated that the release is conditional upon the payment of a financial bail set at $11 million, in addition to imposing a travel ban on him for two months.
It is noted that Hannibal Gaddafi was abducted from Syria in 2015 by unknown gunmen before being handed over to Lebanese authorities, where he remained in custody without formal charges being brought against him. Judge Hassan Al-Shami, head of the official follow-up committee for the case of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr and his two companions, had previously stated that the case of Hannibal Gaddafi, detained in Lebanon for a decade, “requires a legal and judicial resolution.”
