Libyan prosecutors said on Thursday they had identified three suspects in last month’s killing of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, in his home in the north-western city of Zintan in early February.

The prosecutor’s office said its investigation determined the “meeting place of the suspects, the time at which they went to the scene of the crime and committed it… as well as the identity of three suspects”. The office added in the statement on Facebook that it had ordered their arrest.

Seif al-Islam held no official position in the North African country under his father’s rule, but he had been described as Libya’s de facto prime minister, cultivating an image of moderation and reform prior to the 2011 Arab Spring revolt.

But that reputation soon collapsed when he promised “rivers of blood” in the face of the uprisings. 

A Tripoli court later sentenced him to death but he was granted amnesty. Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who had been representing Seif al-Islam, told AFP he was killed by a “four-man commando” who stormed his house.