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Khamis Gaddafi
خميس القذافي
Born (1983-05-27)27 May 1983
Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Died 29 August 2011(2011-08-29)
near Tarhuna, Libya
Alma mater Frunze Military Academy[1]
General Staff Academy
IE Business School
Religion Islam
Military career
Allegiance Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Service/branch Libyan Army
Years of service 2003–2011
Commands held Khamis Brigade
Battles/wars Libyan civil war

Khamis Gaddafi (27 May 1983 – 29 August 2011) was the seventh and youngest son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and the military commander in charge of the Khamis Brigade of the Libyan Army. He was part of his father's inner circle.[2] During the Libyan civil war in 2011, he was a major target for opposition forces trying to overthrow his father.[3]

Education and career[]

At age three, Khamis Gaddafi was injured in the 15 April 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya, suffering head injuries when the Bab al-Azizia military compound was attacked in retaliation for the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.[4] He graduated from the military academy in Tripoli, receiving a bachelor's degree in military arts and science, further graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow and the Academy of the General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2008, Gaddafi visited Algeria, where he was received by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.[1]

In April 2010, he began a Master's Degree at the IE Business School (formerly known as Instituto de Empresa), in Madrid.[1] However, he was expelled by the institution in March 2011 for "his links to the attacks against the Libyan population".[5]

In early 2011, Gaddafi worked as an intern at AECOM Technology Corporation. According to Paul Gennaro, AECOM's Senior Vice President for Global Communications, Gaddafi was touring the United States in February 2011 as part of his internship, including visiting military sites and landmarks. This trip was cut short on 17 February after the Libyan civil war began, and Gaddafi returned to Libya. U.S. government officials later denied any role in planning, advising or paying for the trip.[6]

Role in the Libyan civil war[]

After hurrying back to Libya to aid his father in the civil war, Khamis Gaddafi commanded the assault on Zawiya, leading the Khamis Brigade, a special forces brigade of the Libyan Armed Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.[7][8][9] The battle resulted in pro-Gaddafi forces retaking the city. He also assisted in suppressing anti-regime demonstrations in and around the capital Tripoli in late February-early March. His forces also took part in the Battle of Misrata. In June 2011, he was reported to be commanding pro-Gaddafi forces in Zliten by a soldier captured from his brigade who also reported that Khamis Gaddafi had told his troops to "take Misrata or I will kill you myself. If you don’t take Misrata, we are finished."[10]

Rumors of death[]

Libyan civil war[]

13 March 2011: Alleged suicide attack on Bab al-Azizia[]

On 20 March 2011, it was reported by the anti-Gaddafi Al Manara Media that Khamis Gaddafi had died from injuries sustained when pilot Muhammad Mokhtar Osman allegedly crashed his plane into Bab al-Azizia a week earlier. This was not confirmed by any independent news source. The crashing of the plane itself had also not been previously reported or confirmed by any other independent media except Al Manara and the Algerian Shuruk newspaper, which is closely connected to Al Manara, and with it there is a possibility of the reports being part of the propaganda operations by the opposition.[11][12] The pro-Gaddafi Libyan government subsequently denied that he was killed on 21 March.[13] U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton stated that she was aware of reports that one of Gaddafi's sons had been killed in non-coalition air strikes, after hearing them from "many different sources", but that the "evidence is not sufficient" for her to confirm this.[14][15] On 25 March 2011, Al Arabiya television reported that a source had confirmed the death of Khamis Gaddafi,[16] though others including Al Jazeera continued to call it a rumour.[17]

On 29 March 2011, the Libyan government showed footage of what it said was live footage of Khamis Gaddafi greeting supporters in Tripoli, in an attempt to refute the claims,[18] though it had used false live images before and these images were not verified.[19] On 9 June 2011, a captured pro-Gaddafi soldier in Misrata told the rebels that Khamis Gaddafi was alive in Zliten, and was leading the soldiers there.[10]

5 August 2011: Airstrike in Zliten[]

On 5 August 2011, citing spies operating among the ranks of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for the United Revolutionary Forces, told the Agence France Press news agency that Khamis Gaddafi had been killed overnight, stating that "there was a aircraft attack by NATO on the Gaddafi operations room in Zliten and there are around 32 Gaddafi troops killed. One of them is Khamis."[20]

This report was officially denied by Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. "It's false news. They invented the news about Mr. Khamis Gaddafi in Zliten to cover up their killing," Ibrahim told Reuters in Tripoli. "This is a dirty trick to cover up their crime in Zliten and the killing of the al-Marabit family."[21] NATO was also unable to confirm the reports of Khamis's death.[22] On 9 August, a man who appeared to be Khamis Gaddafi was on Libyan state television speaking to a woman who had allegedly been severely injured by a NATO airstrike.[23]

22 August 2011: Reports of bodies in Tripoli[]

On 22 August, Al Jazeera reported that the bodies of both Khamis Gaddafi and his father's intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi may have been discovered in Tripoli during the battle for the city.[24] However, a rebel commander later stated that he believed Khamis Gaddafi was in Bab al-Azizia.[25]

Senussi was found alive and captured in Mauritania on 17 March 2012,[26][27] and was extradited to Libya on 5 September for trial.[28]

29 August 2011: Airstrike near Tarhuna[]

On 29 August, it was reported that anti-Gaddafi fighters 60 km south of Tripoli claimed that a NATO Apache helicopter had fired on Khamis Gaddafi's Toyota Land Cruiser, destroying the vehicle. A man who claimed to be Khamis Gaddafi's bodyguard said he had been killed. No visual confirmation was immediately available.[29] Several days later, The Guardian interviewed a former guard being held captive in Tarhuna. His personal guard, Abdul Salam Taher Fagri, a 17 year old from Sabha, recruited in Tripoli, later confirmed that Khamis Gaddafi was indeed killed in this attack.[30] He told the newspaper "I was in the truck behind him ... when his car was hit. He was burned." Three other guards being held in separate cells apparently gave similar accounts, leading their captors to believe the accounts of all four to be credible.[31] Some accounts of the attack that reportedly killed Gaddafi suggested fire from a technical, rather than a helicopter, destroyed his vehicle.[30]

The National Transitional Council claimed on 4 September that it was now certain Khamis Gaddafi was dead and had been buried near Bani Walid.[32] In mid-September 2011, a report stated that Gaddafi was in Bani Walid, but had left the city and his men to their fate.[33] However, the International Business Times reported on 15 September that Khamis Gaddafi was still presumed dead.[34] On 15 October, the pro-Gaddafi TV station Arrai TV posted a message mourning his death on 29 August.[35]

After the war[]

At least one report published after the capture of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi asserted that the older Gaddafi told interrogators that Khamis Gaddafi was still alive and may be hiding in Tarhuna.[3][36] On 25 February 2012, Stratfor reported the capture of Khamis Gaddafi by fighters from Zintan.[37] This was denied by the NTC.[38] In April 2012, New York Times journalist Robert Worth met with former Tripoli Yarmouk prison captor Marwan Gdoura, who confessed that after the execution of around 100 prisoners he fled the city with some 200 loyalists under the command of Khamis Gaddafi, who was killed in gunbattle. Afterwards, he witnessed his older brother Saif al-Islam Gaddafi receiving condolences in Bani Walid.[39]

20 October 2012: Siege of Bani Walid[]

For over a year, it was believed that Khamis died on August 2011. On 17 October 2012, a report from Human Rights Watch said "Khamis Gaddafi, a son of Muammar who commanded the elite 32nd "Khamis" Brigade of the Libyan military, was killed on 29 August as he fled Tripoli, in what is believed to have been a NATO airstrike on his convoy.[40] However, just three days later, Khamis Gaddafi was allegedly killed according to the new Libyan deputy Prime Minister's tweet during fighting in the town of Bani Walid on 20 October 2012, a year to the day Gaddafi's father Muammar was captured and killed by rebel forces in Sirte.[41] A statement from the Libyan National Congress's spokesman, Omar Hamdan, claimed Gaddafi was killed "in battle", but gave no further details. His body was allegedly found after a day of heavy fighting between the town's pro-Gaddafi garrison and militias allied to the Libyan government.[42][43][44][45]

A government spokesman denied that there was any official confirmation about the capture of Mussa Ibrahim to Agence France-Presse, and did not even talk about the rumor of Khamis Gaddafi's death.[46] The Associated Press described the report of Gaddafi's death as an unconfirmed rumor.[47] Musa Ibrahim, the former spokesman of Muammar Gaddafi, personally disproved the message on the arrest saying he was not even in Libya and denied the most recent reports on the death of Khamis.[48] On 24 October 2012, government spokesman Nasser Al-Manaa retracted and apologised for false reports from the government and the National Congress regarding the killing of Khamis Gaddafi and the capture of Moussa Ibrahim.[49]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Un hijo de Gadafi estudia un master en Madrid" (in Spanish). El País. Madrid. 22 February 2011. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/hijo/Gadafi/estudia/master/Madrid/elpepuint/20110222elpepuint_29/Tes. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  2. "Inside Gaddafi's inner circle". Al Jazeera. 27 February 2011. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/02/2011227192852808945.html. Retrieved 20 June 2011. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "‫نعي لشهيد خاض معارك باسلة الشهيد خميس القذافي‬". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thURLSzjiIE. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  4. Copeland, David A. (2005). The Greenwood Library of American War Reporting: The Vietnam War & post-Vietnam conflicts. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-313-32930-2. 
  5. Ross-Thomas, Emma (4 March 2011). "Madrid’s IE Business School Expels Qaddafi's Son From MBA". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-04/madrid-s-ie-business-school-expels-qaddafi-s-son-from-mba-1-.html. Retrieved 20 June 2011. 
  6. "Khamis Gaddafi toured US military facilities weeks before Libya crisis". The Telegraph. London. 26 March 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8408270/Khamis-Gaddafi-toured-US-military-facilities-weeks-before-Libya-crisis.html. Retrieved 20 June 2011. 
  7. "Khamis Gaddafi Recruits Mercenaries to Shoot Protestors". International Business Times. 11 February 2011. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/114681/20110221/khamis-gaddafi-mercenaries-chad-benghazi.htm. 
  8. Michael, Maggie (18 February 2011). "Libyan forces storm protest camp in Benghazi". News Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/18/998374/gadhafi-rallies-supporters-amid.html. 
  9. "Khamis Ghaddafi: The agent of fear". Afrol News. 23 February 2011. http://afrol.com/articles/37412. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Fadel, Leila (10 June 2011). "Libyan rebels stage insurrection in Zlitan". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyan-rebels-stage-insurrection-in-zlitan/2011/06/10/AGpi44OH_story.html. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
  11. Hartley-Parkinson, Richard (22 March 2011). "For the sins of his father: Gaddafi's son 'killed in kamikaze pilot attack on barracks'". Daily Mail. London. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368410/Libya-crisis-Gaddafi-uses-civilians-human-shields-prevent-military-targets.html. 
  12. Loy, Chris (21 March 2011). "Gaddafi's Son Khamis Killed By Kamikaze Pilot Claims". Daily Planet Dispatch. http://dailyplanetdispatch.com/gaddafis-son-khamis-killed-by-kamikaze-pilot-claim/856968. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  13. "Libya denies report of Gaddafi son's death". Yedioth Ahronoth. 21 March 2011. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4045624,00.html. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  14. Khan, Huma (22 March 2011). "Exclusive: Gadhafi, Allies May Be Seeking Way Out, Clinton tells ABC News". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-diane-sawyer-moammar-gadhafi-allies-seeking/story?id=13196414. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  15. "Libya Live Blog – March 23". Al Jazeera. 23 March 2011. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-23. 
  16. Al Hussaini, Amira (25 March 2011). "Libya: Is Khamis Gaddafi Really Dead?". Global Voices Online. http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/25/libya-is-khamis-gaddafi-really-dead/. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  17. "Live Blog Libya – 26 March". Al Jazeera. 26 March 2011. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-march-26. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  18. Nasr, Joseph; Amara, Tarek (29 March 2011). "Libya TV says shows live footage of Khamis Gaddafi". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72R29Z20110329. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 
  19. "Live Blog – 19 March". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2011. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-19. 
  20. "Gaddafi son killed in Nato strike, Libyan rebels claim". The Telegraph. London. 5 August 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8683248/Gaddafi-son-killed-in-Nato-strike-Libyan-rebels-claim.html. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
  21. "Tripoli denies Gaddafi son killed in NATO raid". Reuters. 5 August 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/05/libya-son-denial-idAFLDE7740GV20110805. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
  22. al-Shaheibi, Rami; al-Shalchi, Hadeel (6 August 2011). "Libya regime: Gadhafi son alive". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/126902573.html. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
  23. Nasr, Joseph (9 August 2011). "Libyan TV shows footage of Khamis Gaddafi". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE77818V20110809. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 
  24. Gladstone, Rick (22 August 2011). "Qaddafi's Whereabouts Still a Mystery in Libya". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/world/africa/23mystery.html. 
  25. "Qaddafi's sixth son Khamis may hide in Bab al-Aziziya: rebel". CNTV. Benghazi. 22 August 2011. http://english.cntv.cn/20110823/100261.shtml. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  26. "Gaddafi spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi held in Mauritania". BBC News. 17 March 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17413626. 
  27. "Muammar Gaddafi's spy chief Senussi 'arrested in Mauritania'". Daily Telegraph. 17 March 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9150099/Muammar-Gaddafis-spy-chief-Senussi-arrested-in-Mauritania.html. 
  28. "Mauritania 'extradites Libya ex-spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi'". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19487228. Retrieved 5 September 2012. 
  29. "Rebels: Gaddafi's Son 'Killed In Air Strike'". Sky News. 29 August 2011. http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16058574. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
  30. 30.0 30.1 Pendlebury, Richard (2 September 2011). "The car was armored like a tank. But that wasn't enough to save Gaddafi's son Khamis when the rebels took their vengeance". The Daily Mail. London. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032801/Khamis-Gaddafi-killed-Rebels-took-vengeance-despite-car-armoured-like-tank.html. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
  31. Chulov, Martin (31 August 2011). "Rebel forces surround Libyan town where Gaddafi is believed to be hiding". The Guardian. London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/31/rebel-forces-surround-gaddafi-town. Retrieved 31 August 2011. 
  32. "Libya conflict: Fear for civilians in Bani Walid siege". BBC News. 4 September 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14780957. Retrieved 4 September 2011. 
  33. Stephen, Chris; Raufund, Abdul; Smith, David (10 September 2011). "Gaddafi's diehard secret police dig in as Nato jets blast desert stronghold". The Guardian. Tripoli. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/10/gaddafi-beni-walid-rebels-nato. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  34. "Gadhafi's Mysterious Daughter Hana: Did She Ever Exist?". International Business Times. 15 September 2011. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/214519/20110915/gadhafi-daughter-hana-gaddafi-alive.htm. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  35. "TV station mourns death of Gaddafi's son Khamis in Libya". Reuters. 17 October 2011. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE79G01U20111017. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  36. "Khamis Gaddafi still alive in Libya, NTC official says". Digital Journal. 22 November 2011. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/314862. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  37. "Gadhafi Son Captured". Stratfor. 25 February 2012. http://stratfor.com/situation-report/libya-gadhafi-son-captured. 
  38. "Khamis Gaddafi's capture baseless rumour, according to NTC". DigitalJournal. 26 February 2012. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320232. 
  39. "In Libya, the Captors Have Become the Captive"
  40. "Death of a Dictator". Human Rights Watch. October 2012. http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/libya1012webwcover_0_0.pdf. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  41. "Military Revolutionary Council members in Libya have killed the youngest son of the late Muammar al-Gaddafi". Big News Network. http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/210226385/scat/b8de8e630faf3631/ht/Libyan-revolution-forces-kill-Gaddafi-family-member. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 
  42. Stephen, Chris. "Khamis Gaddafi 'killed during fighting in Bani Walid'". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/20/khamis-gaddafi-killed-bani-walid-muammar. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 
  43. "Youngest son of Colonel Gaddafi dead after Bani Walid siege – Libya deputy PM". Russia Today. 20 October 2012. http://rt.com/news/khamis-gaddafi-libya-captured-874. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 
  44. "Khamis Gaddafi found dead in Beni Walid". Trend. http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/2079132.html. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 
  45. Cask J. Thomson (21 October 2012). "Khamis Gaddafi, Youngest son of late Libyan Leader, confirmed dead". Wordswithmeaning.org. http://wordswithmeaning.org/khamis-gaddafi-youngest-son-of-late-libyan-leader-confirmed-dead/. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  46. "Clashes in Gaddafi bastion kill 26, confusion over former aide's capture". TimesLIVE Mobile. 21 October 2012. http://m.timeslive.co.za/africa/?articleId=6966522. Retrieved 23 July 2013. 
  47. "Libyan turmoil persists year after Gadhafi death". Boston. 21 October 2012. http://www.boston.com/news/world/middle-east/2012/10/21/libyan-turmoil-persists-year-after-gadhafi-death/FVo38xuWBp6DgD2aS06jRI/story.html. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  48. Statement of Dr. Moussa Ibrahim (20 October 2012)
  49. "Bani Walid falls". Libya Herald. 24 October 2012. http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/10/24/bani-walid-falls/. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
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