Colonel Gaddafi Killed, NTC Official Says
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been killed and his body is being taken to the city of Misratah, National Transitional Council spokesman Abdullah Berrassali has told Sky News.
An image from a mobile phone apparently showing Col Muammar Gaddafi wounded
"Gaddafi is dead, absolutely dead. He was shot in both legs and in the head," he said.
"It looks like Gaddafi and his close aides tried to flee. The freedom fighters tried to apprehend them but it looks like from the reports, which are not 100% confirmed, that as a result of the exchange of fire maybe Gaddafi was badly injured.
"I have always said that the priority would be to take Gaddafi alive and put him on a fair, just trial ... but if he resisted arrest there was a great likelihood he would be killed."
There have been conflicting reports about how the capture and killing of the ousted Libyan leader happened.
Earlier National Transitional Council (NTC) military commander Abdel Majid he was injured in a gunfight as his convoy attempted to flee Sirte.
An anti-Gaddafi fighter who claimed he witnessed Gaddafi's capture said the former Libyan leader was shot in the stomach as he hid with his bodyguards.
"We catch him and we shot him, somebody shot him by gun - 9mm," the witness said. Pointing to another man next to him, he added: "This man hit Muammar Gaddafi with his shoes."
Colonel Gaddafi had been on the run for weeks
Libyan TV channels showed footage of two large drainage tunnels where other reports suggested he had been killed.
Spray painted above the pipe openings were the words "contemptible Gaddafi" and "God is greatest". There was a corpse, apparently a pro-Gaddafi fighter, lying on the ground nearby.
Another commander, Abdel-Basit Haroun, said Gaddafi was killed in a Nato airstrike.
Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrated on the streets as reports of Gaddafi's fate emerged.
Sky reporter Kitty Logan in the Libyan capital said: "The mood here in Tripoli is of absolute euphoria.
"This is the moment they have been waiting for, this is what their revolution was about and if the rumours are true this is closure for the Libyan people."
GADDAFI: THE RISE AND FALL OF A DICTATOR
Foreign affairs editor Lisa Holland said: "There have been repeated claims in the past that Gaddafi's sons were captured, and they turned out not to be true, so we will have to have the evidence.
"However, prime minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil is due to address the nation very shortly. I do not believe he would want to go on television without being certain."
Arabic news channels reported Colonel Gaddafi's son Mutassim had also been captured alive in Sirte on Thursday.
Celebratory gunfire was heard in Libyan cities as the news came out
US state department spokeswoman Beth Gosselin said Washington was aware of the claims but could not confirm them.
Nato officials said they were checking the reports.
"Clearly these are very significant developments, which will take time to confirm. If it is true, then this is truly a historic day for the people of Libya," an official said.
A Pro-Gaddafi television channel was quick to deny his death or his capture.
NEW FOOTAGE OF GADDAFI'S DEAD BODY Warning Graphic
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/10/2011102014201566639.html
Source: Sky News www.news.sky.com
Picture Source: BBC news BBC News - Home
