Libyan authorities order the arrest of three suspects in killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

Libyan authorities have ordered the arrest of three suspects in last month's assassination of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the public prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Investigators say there are three suspects in Gadaffi's killing and claim to know when and where the murder took place. No further details were given.

Gadaffi was assassinated on February 3 in the north-western city of Zintan.

Authorities said an initial investigation found that he was shot to death but did not provide further details. Saif al-Islam's political team later released a statement saying “four masked men” had stormed his house and killed him in a “cowardly and treacherous assassination,” after disabling security cameras.

The son of Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gadaffi, Saif al-Islam was considered the reformist face of his father's regime.

But Muammar was toppled and killed during a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 and Saif al-Islam was captured.

He was released in 2017 and had since lived in Zintan, despite being sentenced to death by a court in eastern Libya.

Since the civil war, Libya has been divided between two rival governments in the east and west.

Authorities in Zintan refused to hand him over and for his supporters, he became a symbol of reconciliation and national unity.

Gadaffi announced he would run for president in 2021 but was disqualified. Polls aiming to unify the country under a UN agreement have been indefinitely postponed.