Today, Friday, thousands of Libyans participated in the funeral of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in the Libyan city of Bani Walid.
The funeral witnessed the presence of a large number of social and tribal components, most notably the Warfalla and Qadhadhfa tribes. Participants in the funeral chanted slogans denouncing the crime of assassinating Saif al-Islam at the hands of gunmen in the city of Zintan, west of the country, demanding the opening of an urgent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of the crime and retribution against the killers.
The body of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi entered Bani Walid amid tight security measures, and the legal team of Dr. Saif al-Islam Muammar Gaddafi issued a statement condemning the treacherous crime of his assassination, considering what happened as a serious crime and a flagrant violation of Libyan laws, Islamic customs and traditions, and the rules of international law.
The statement indicated that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had always called for comprehensive national reconciliation, rejecting violence, promoting dialogue and peaceful solutions, and uniting Libyans away from revenge and conflicts, stressing that his targeting came within the framework of ongoing political exclusion attempts since 2011.
The statement called on the judicial and security authorities to open an urgent and transparent investigation to identify all those involved and hold them accountable, while emphasizing the role of local and international human rights organizations in following up on the case to ensure that the truth is revealed and not obscured.
Bani Walid, with a population of one hundred thousand people, is the stronghold of the Warfalla tribe, which still commemorates Muammar Gaddafi, until the announcement on Tuesday of the assassination of Saif al-Islam in his home in the city of Zintan.
