His name offered an alternative line of succession that Libya’s rival elites could neither control nor neutralise.
![In this Saturday, Nov 19, 2011 file photo, Saif al-Islam is seen after his capture in the custody of revolutionary fighters in Zintan, Libya [AP Photo/Ammar El-Darwish, File]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AP375353421109-1770192310_8b3654-1770888238.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

His name offered an alternative line of succession that Libya’s rival elites could neither control nor neutralise.
![In this Saturday, Nov 19, 2011 file photo, Saif al-Islam is seen after his capture in the custody of revolutionary fighters in Zintan, Libya [AP Photo/Ammar El-Darwish, File]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AP375353421109-1770192310_8b3654-1770888238.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Is Haftar’s ‘Operation Dignity’ really about countering militants and extreme groups in Libya?
![In mid-May Haftar's forces stormed the Libyan parliament and called for suspending the ruling General National Congress [AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014519152623442734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)