Recently, a Libyan Hajj pilgrim named Amer Al Gaddafi faced delays at immigration due to security concerns related to his title “Al Gaddafi”. Dramatically, after the same flight returned twice, on the third attempt, Amer Al Gaddafi was able to board the plane, and it reached Saudi Arabia without any issues. A claim has circulated on social media stating that Amer Al Gaddafi died while performing Tawaf after reaching Mecca.
See the Facebook posts spreading this claim here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).
Fact-check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that Libyan Hajj pilgrim Amer Al Gaddafi is not dead; he is alive and well. The claim about Amer Al Gaddafi’s death was circulated on social media without citing any sources.In this regard, a report was found on the website of Egyptian media outlet Youm7, published on June 4.
The report mentioned a video message from Amer, stating that in a video call with a family member, Amer Al Gaddafi appeared and assured them that he was in good health and would be traveling to Mina to complete the Hajj pilgrimage (translated from Arabic).
Additionally, a post published on June 12 on the X account of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Indian fact-checking organization Alt News, was also found.
The post included an 18-second video of Amer Al Gaddafi and stated that Haji Amer Al Mahdi Mansour Al Gaddafi is alive. In the video message, recorded four days before the death rumor circulated, he confirmed that he was in good health.
Moreover, no information regarding Amer Al Gaddafi’s death has been found in any reliable media sources or from any relevant authorities.
Conclusion
Therefore, the claim that Libyan Hajj pilgrim Amer Al Gaddafi has died is false.
