Libya: No, Image Does Not Show Mourners At Funeral of Libya's Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi

31 March 2026
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Grace Gichuhi

No, image does not show mourners at funeral of Libya's Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

IN SHORT: An image circulating online appears to show the funeral of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son. But it is likely AI-generated.

An image has been circulating on Facebook since February 2026 with the claim that it shows a crowd at the funeral of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the slain son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Bani Walid.

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The town of Bani Walid is about 175 kilometres south of Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

The caption reads: "Over a million people attended the funeral of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in Bani Walid - the largest in Libyan history."

The image in question shows mourners lined in neat rows, gathered around a coffin wrapped in black, in what appears to follow Islamic burial rites.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 53, was assassinated at his home in Zintan, a city in northwestern Libya, on 3 February. His funeral was held on 6 February, after which the image began circulating. He was the second and most prominent son of Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya from 1969 until he died in an uprising that ended his regime in 2011.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once seen as the heir apparent of the elder Gaddafi. This perception largely faded after the International Criminal Court sought him for alleged crimes against humanity, committed during the 2011 uprising.

The funeral image supposedly showing the mourning and continued support for him among Gaddafi loyalists was also published here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)

But was it really taken during his funeral? We checked.

AI-generated image

While Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's burial ceremony drew a large crowd, the photo in the claim does not depict the events of that day.

It shows several signs typical of content generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including distorted faces and bodies, especially in the back rows. The people's hands and limbs appear unnaturally merged or "melted" together.

A name on a building in the background also appears to be garbled and illegible.

Further, an AFP photographer told the agency's fact-checking unit that no coffin was displayed at any point during the funeral, and that the scene was marked by confusion, rather than the neat rows shown in the image.

For more tips on how to spot AI-generated images, read our guide.

The image has also been posted here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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