Gaddafi dies of wounds after capture - NTC official
By Rania El Gamal
SIRTE, Libya | Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:21pm BST
(Reuters) - Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior National Transitional Council military official said.
The NTC official, Abdel Majid Mlegta, had told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes had attacked.
"He was also hit in his head," said Mlegta. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."
Asked if there was photographic evidence to prove that Gaddafi was dead, Mlegta said: "We have the footage but it is not available now."
There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.
Mlegta reported Gaddafi's death after Libyan interim government fighters took Sirte on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the former leader and ending a two-month siege.
NATO warplanes struck the convoy and hit four cars as it headed west, Mlegta said, adding that the head of Gaddafi's armed forces Abu Bakr Younus Jabr had been killed during the attack.
Ahmed Ibrahim, a cousin and adviser of Gaddafi, was captured along with former government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, he added.
In the capital Tripoli, sounds of gun shots were heard and people cheered in the street: "God is Great, God is Great, Gaddafi has been captured."
(reporting by Samia Nakhoul; editing by David Stamp)
Gadaffi is dead
Gadaffi is dead
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi
Re: Gadaffi is dead
Gaddafi and Binny will probably be opening a coffee house somewhere. Wonder if they will call it '72 virgins'?
Any bets on who is next on the list to visit?
Any bets on who is next on the list to visit?
Re: Gadaffi is dead
From the Times...
Qaddafi Dead as Troops Seize Stronghold, Officials Say
By KAREEM FAHIM
TRIPOLI, Libya — The head of the Libyan military council said that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed Thursday as fighters battling the vestiges of his fallen regime wrested control of his hometown of Surt after a prolonged struggle. Al-Jazeera television showed what it said was Colonel Qaddafi’s corpse as Libyans rejoiced.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, the leader of the Tripoli military council, said on Al Jazeera that the former leader had been killed and that anti-Qaddafi forces had his body.
The report of Colonel Qaddafi’s death by the highest ranking military officer in Libya’s interim government appeared to put an end to the fierce manhunt for the former leader who remained on the lam in Libya for weeks after the fall of his government.
Libya’s interim leaders had said they believed that some Qaddafi family members — possibly including Colonel Qaddafi and several of his sons — were hiding in the coastal town of Surt or in Bani Walid, another loyalist bastion that the anti-Qaddafi forces captured several days ago.
There were multiple reports on Thursday that Colonel Qaddafi had been either captured or killed in the fighting. Previous such reports regarding high-level Qaddafi officials have proven false.
As rumor of his death spread in the capital, Tripoli, car horns blared as many celebrated in the streets.
Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Afghanistan, said the department was aware of the reports “on the capture or killing of Muammar Qaddafi” but could not confirm them “at this time.”
There was no immediate comment from Mr. Jalil, the interim government’s top official. If confirmed, the capture or killing of Colonel Qaddafi — along with the fall of Surt — would allow Mr. Abdul Jalil to declare the country liberated and in control of its borders, and to start a process that would lead to a general election for a national council within eight months.
Libyan fighters said on Thursday that they had routed the last remaining forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi from the Surt, ending weeks of fierce fighting that had prevented Libya’s interim rulers from declaring the country liberated and starting the transition to an elected government.
A military spokesman for the interim government, Abdel Rahman Busin, said, “Surt is fully liberated.”
Gunfire could still be heard in Surt on Thursday, as former rebel fighters searched houses and chased fleeing loyalist fighters. The anti-Qaddafi fighters killed at least 20 loyalist soldiers trying to escape down the coastal highway, and captured at least 16, The A.P. reported.
The battle for Surt was supposed to have been a postscript to the Libyan conflict, but for weeks soldiers loyal to Colonel Qaddafi, Libya’s deposed leader, fiercely defended the city, first weathering NATO airstrikes and then repeated assaults by anti-Qaddafi fighters. Former rebel leaders were caught off guard by the depth of the divisions in western Libya, where the colonel’s policy of playing favorites and stoking rivalries has resulted in a series of violent confrontations.
Surt emerged as the stage for one of the war’s bloodiest fights, killing and injuring scores on both sides, decimating the city and leading to fears that the weak transitional leaders would not be able to unify the country.
The battle turned nearly two weeks ago, after a prolonged stalemate, when the anti-Qaddafi fighters laid siege to an enormous convention center that the pro-Qaddafi troops had used as a base.
The interim leaders had claimed that the ongoing fighting had prevented them from focusing on other pressing concerns, including the proliferation of armed militias that answered to no central authority.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world ... nted=printBy KAREEM FAHIM
TRIPOLI, Libya — The head of the Libyan military council said that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed Thursday as fighters battling the vestiges of his fallen regime wrested control of his hometown of Surt after a prolonged struggle. Al-Jazeera television showed what it said was Colonel Qaddafi’s corpse as Libyans rejoiced.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, the leader of the Tripoli military council, said on Al Jazeera that the former leader had been killed and that anti-Qaddafi forces had his body.
The report of Colonel Qaddafi’s death by the highest ranking military officer in Libya’s interim government appeared to put an end to the fierce manhunt for the former leader who remained on the lam in Libya for weeks after the fall of his government.
Libya’s interim leaders had said they believed that some Qaddafi family members — possibly including Colonel Qaddafi and several of his sons — were hiding in the coastal town of Surt or in Bani Walid, another loyalist bastion that the anti-Qaddafi forces captured several days ago.
There were multiple reports on Thursday that Colonel Qaddafi had been either captured or killed in the fighting. Previous such reports regarding high-level Qaddafi officials have proven false.
As rumor of his death spread in the capital, Tripoli, car horns blared as many celebrated in the streets.
Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Afghanistan, said the department was aware of the reports “on the capture or killing of Muammar Qaddafi” but could not confirm them “at this time.”
There was no immediate comment from Mr. Jalil, the interim government’s top official. If confirmed, the capture or killing of Colonel Qaddafi — along with the fall of Surt — would allow Mr. Abdul Jalil to declare the country liberated and in control of its borders, and to start a process that would lead to a general election for a national council within eight months.
Libyan fighters said on Thursday that they had routed the last remaining forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi from the Surt, ending weeks of fierce fighting that had prevented Libya’s interim rulers from declaring the country liberated and starting the transition to an elected government.
A military spokesman for the interim government, Abdel Rahman Busin, said, “Surt is fully liberated.”
Gunfire could still be heard in Surt on Thursday, as former rebel fighters searched houses and chased fleeing loyalist fighters. The anti-Qaddafi fighters killed at least 20 loyalist soldiers trying to escape down the coastal highway, and captured at least 16, The A.P. reported.
The battle for Surt was supposed to have been a postscript to the Libyan conflict, but for weeks soldiers loyal to Colonel Qaddafi, Libya’s deposed leader, fiercely defended the city, first weathering NATO airstrikes and then repeated assaults by anti-Qaddafi fighters. Former rebel leaders were caught off guard by the depth of the divisions in western Libya, where the colonel’s policy of playing favorites and stoking rivalries has resulted in a series of violent confrontations.
Surt emerged as the stage for one of the war’s bloodiest fights, killing and injuring scores on both sides, decimating the city and leading to fears that the weak transitional leaders would not be able to unify the country.
The battle turned nearly two weeks ago, after a prolonged stalemate, when the anti-Qaddafi fighters laid siege to an enormous convention center that the pro-Qaddafi troops had used as a base.
The interim leaders had claimed that the ongoing fighting had prevented them from focusing on other pressing concerns, including the proliferation of armed militias that answered to no central authority.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi
Re: Gadaffi is dead
The robot may have been captured, but the real Gadaffi is sitting smugly at the salon table of the Zipulator drinking British coffee.
Credo quia absurdum.
Re: Gadaffi is dead
The British have coffee?
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi
Re: Gadaffi is dead
He doesn't like it, but it's all the old bat will serve him.
Credo quia absurdum.