Now the 39-year-old, who occupied no formal political office but wielded vast influence, is a prisoner of his country's new rulers - arrested in the southern desert by forces of the National Transitional Council.
He had been on the run and in hiding for almost a month since the last towns held by troops still loyal to his father fell in mid-October.
For years he had been seen as a western-leaning and reformist figure inside the Gaddafi regime, and was courted by western politicians and businessmen who had high hopes for the future.
But once the rebellion in Libya got under way he became increasingly vocal in support of the regime's violent crackdown.
"Libya is at a crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms, we will not be mourning 84 people, but thousands of deaths, and rivers of blood will run through Libya," he said in February, soon after the uprising began. » | Telegraph reporter |Saturday, November 19, 2011
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WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE: Gaddafis prominentester Sohn gefasst: Der Sohn des früheren libyschen Machthabers Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, ist offiziellen Angaben zufolge im Süden des Landes gefasst und festgenommen worden. Er galt einst als Reformer und Hoffnung des Westens. » | rtr/dpa | Quelle: Handelsblatt Online | Samstag 19. November 2011
LE MONDE: Saïf Al-Islam Kadhafi a été arrêté dans le sud de la Libye : Saïf Al-Islam Kadhafi, capturé samedi dans le sud de la Libye, sera jugé équitablement en Libye pour des crimes graves passibles de la peine de mort, a déclaré le ministre libyen de la justice Mohammed al Alagy. Seif Al-Islam était le dernier fils encore en cavale de l'ancien dirigeant Mouammar Kadhafi, tué le 20 octobre. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | samedi 19 novembre 2011
