Gaddafi's son dead from NATO airstrike? In '86 Muammar said non-existent adopted daughter killed in airstrike

Reagan mural, Tampico, IL

A Libyan government spokesman is reporting that the youngest son of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Arab, along with three of his grandchildren, were killed in a NATO airstrike of the son's Tripoli home.

But I recall that after a 1986 air strike on the dictator's home, one ordered by President Reagan, Mad Muammar claimed that a heretofore unknown adopted daughter perished. Why hadn't anyone heard of her? Because she didn't exist--Gaddaffi fabricated her in an attempt to gain sympathy. Which is why there are doubts about the veracity of the Libyan government's report.

UPDATE May 1: Skepticism continues to grow over Saif's death.

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