n this Feb. 25, 2011, file photo, Seif al-Islam al-Gadhafi speaks to the media at a press conference in a hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Photo: AP

The public prosecutor's office said forensic experts had been dispatched to Zintan in northwest Libya, where he was shot dead, adding that efforts were underway to identify suspects.

"The victim died from wounds by gunfire," the office said in a statement, adding that investigators were looking to "speak to witnesses and anyone who may be able to shed light on the incident".

A lawyer of Seif al-Islam, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP he was killed by an unidentified "four-man commando" who stormed his house in Zintan on Tuesday.

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that erupted after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 overthrew Moammar Gadhafi.

Libya remains divided between the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli and an eastern administration.

Neither authority has commented on Seif al-Islam's death.

The only public reaction came from Moussa al-Kouni, vice president of the Presidential Council representing the Fezzan region.

"No to political assassinations, no to achieving demands by force, and no to violence as a language or a means of expression," he wrote on X.