Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in a targeted shooting at his compound in Zintan. Four masked men entered after disabling security cameras. Saif was shot 19 times. His guards mysteriously left about 90 minutes before the attack. The assailants left quietly, with no fight or claim of responsibility. Libya’s divided rulers — the UN-backed government in Tripoli and Khalifa Haftar’s military control in the east — have not held elections since 2014. Saif represented an alternative power line neither side could accept. Analysts say his killing was planned, requiring insider knowledge and withdrawn protection. Saif had lived secretly with some Russian-linked security support but had faced threats for years. Haftar’s coalition, built on patronage and tribal ties, saw Saif as a threat because he symbolized a rival inheritance and a possible unifying figure for dissatisfied groups. Just days before, Saddam Haftar met secretly with the prime minister’s nephew in Paris to discuss another unity government deal. Saif’s growing popularity in the canceled 2021 elections made his presence on any ballot dangerous. After his death, his tribe buried him in Bani Walid, not the preferred Sirte. Public mourning was blocked, and no arrests have been made. In Libya, silence after such killings often means the killers act with impunity.