Citizens line up to see body; new rulers set to
declare 'liberation' on Sunday
msnbc.com staff and news service
reports MISRATA, Libya — Moammar Gadhafi's blood-
streaked body was stashed in a commercial
freezer at a shopping center Friday as Libyans
tried to figure out where and when to bury the
hated leader.
As citizens lined up in Misrata to view the body, the top U.N. rights
chief raised concerns that
Gadhafi may have been shot to death after
being captured.
Also muddled was the fate of Seif al-Islam
Gadhafi, the only Gadhafi son who stayed in
Libya and reportedly survived after his father's Aug. 21 ouster. It
appeared Friday that he was
still at large: Some government ministers had
said he was wounded and in custody in a
hospital in the city of Zlitan, but a military official
at the hospital, Hakim al-Kisher, denied he was
there. Interim government officials moved ahead on
plans to "liberate Libya." The liberation was
moved from Saturday to Sunday in the city of
Benghazi, often referred to as the cradle of the
revolution that overthrew Gadhafi, and not in
the capital Tripoli, interim government officials told Reuters.
Meantime, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen said that the alliance had taken a
preliminary decision to end its seven-month
mission in Libya on Oct. 31. He said the formal
decision would come next week. Earlier, the top NATO commander, Adm. Jim
Stavridis, had said in an announcement on his Facebook page that he
would recommend conclusion of the
mission. "A good day for NATO, a great day for
the people of Libya," Stavridis wrote.
Burial on hold, bullet to the head
In Misrata, residents crowded into long lines to
get a chance to view Gadhafi's body, which was laid out on a mattress
on the floor of an
emptied-out freezer at a local shopping center.
The body had apparently been stowed in the
freezer in an attempt to keep it out of the public
eye, but once the location was known, that
intention was swept away in the overwhelming desire of residents to
see the man they so
deeply despised.
Men, women and children filed in to take their
picture with the body. The site's guards had
even organized separate visiting hours for
families and single men. "We want to see the dog," some chanted. AFP -
Getty Images Gadhafi's 69-year-old body was stripped to the
waist, his torso and arms streaked with dried
blood. Bullet wounds in the chest, abdomen and
left side of the head were visible.
The bloody siege of Misrata over the summer
instilled a particularly virulent hatred of Gadhafi there — a hatred
now mixed with pride because
he was captured and killed by fighters from the
city.
New video posted on Facebook showed
revolutionary fighters dragging a confused-
looking Gadhafi up the hill to their vehicles after his capture and
less than an hour before he was
killed. The young men scream "Moammar, you
dog!" as their former leader wipes at blood
covering the left side of his head, neck and left
shoulder.
Gadhafi gestures to the young men to be patient, and says "What's
going on?" as he
wipes fresh blood from his temple and glances at
his palm. A young fighter later is shown carrying
a boot and screaming, "This is Moammar's shoe!
This is Moammar's shoe! Victory! Victory!"
Video on Arab television stations showed fighters pushing him onto the
hood of a pickup
truck. One fighter held him down, pressing on
his thigh with a pair of shoes in a show of
contempt.
Fighters propped him on the hood as they
drove for several moments, apparently to parade him around in victory.
Video: McCain: Gadhafi should have been tried "We want him alive. We
want him alive," one
man shouted before Gadhafi was dragged off the
hood, some fighters pulling his hair, toward an
ambulance.
According to a translation by Britain's Sky News , Gadhafi yelled at
the revolutionaries. "What
you are doing is not allowed in Islamic law," he
reportedly said. "What you are doing is
forbidden in Islam!"
'Shut up, dog'
Celebratory gunfire is heard in the video aired by Sky News and at one
point a gun is pointed
at the dictator's head.
"Do you know right from wrong?" Gadhafi
added on the video shortly before he appears to
lose consciousness.
"Shut up, dog," one of the former rebels responded.
The video on Sky News later shows a dead
Gadhafi being photographed and filmed in the
street.
Other footage showed fighters rolling Gadhafi's
lifeless body over on the pavement, stripped to the waist and a pool
of blood under his head.
His body was then paraded on a car through
Misrata, a nearby city that suffered a brutal siege
by regime forces during the eight-month civil
war that eventually ousted Gadhafi, as crowds in
the streets cheered. Video: Libya euphoric as Gadhafi's body lies
in freezer 'Very disturbing'
Gadhafi's family, most of whom are in Algeria or
other nearby African nations, issued a statement
calling for an investigation into how Gadhafi and
another of his sons, Muatassim, were killed. In
the statement on the pro-Gadhafi, Syria-based TV station Al-Rai, they
asked for international
pressure on the NTC to hand over the bodies of
the two men to their tribe.
The United Nations' human rights office also
called for a full investigation.
"It is unclear how he died. There is a need for an investigation,"
U.N. human rights spokesman
Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
"It is a fundamental principle of international law
that people accused of serious crimes should if
possible be tried. Summary executions are
strictly illegal. It is different if someone is killed in combat," he added.
Referring to separate cell phone images showing
a wounded Gadhafi first alive and then later
dead amidst a jumble of anti-Gadhafi fighters
after his capture on Thursday, he added: "Taken
together, they were very disturbing." In Tripoli, joy over Gadhafi's
end spilled into a
second day as thousands converged on central
Martyrs' Square for Friday prayers and
celebrations. Men danced and hoisted the
country's new red-green-and-black flag.
"It's the start of a new era that everybody hopes will bring security
and freedom," said
Tarek Othman, a computer specialist. "I hope
democracy is the path we take so all of these
Libyans who have sacrificed will really feel free."
He stood with his wife — who wore a cap in the
revolution's colors over her all-encompassing black niqab — in the
square, which was
formerly known as Green Square and was used
by Gadhafi to stage rallies against the uprising.
Khaled Almslaty, a clothing vendor, said he
wished Gadhafi had not been killed after being
captured. "But I believe he got what he deserved because
if we prosecuted him for the smallest of his
crimes, he would be punished by death," he said.
"Now we hope the NTC will accelerate the
formation of a new government and ... won't
waste time on irrelevant conflicts and competing for authority and
positions." Video: Libya celebrates the death of Gadhafi It's a tall
order after nearly 42 years of rule by
one man, who often acted according to whims
and tolerated no dissent. Libya's new leaders
have stressed the need for reconciliation, but
many factions are eager to have their say after
years of repression. The Western-backed NTC, a collection of former
rebels, returned exiles, technocrats and Islamists,
has always been united behind its goal of
ousting Gadhafi. Now the group must overcome
divisions and competing self-interests to rebuild
the oil-rich North African nation, which was stripped of institutions
under Gadhafi.
The NTC said interim leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil
will formally declare liberation on Sunday in the
eastern city of Benghazi, where the revolution
began in mid-February. Prime Minister Mahmoud
Jibril has promised to resign, saying he will not be part of any new
government and will instead
turn his attention to fighting corruption.
The transitional council has asked the United
Nations "to play a significant role" in helping
them write a constitution, hold elections and
build democratic institutions, said Ian Martin, the U.N. envoy to Libya.
"No one should underestimate in this moment of
celebration in Libya how great are the challenges
that lie ahead," he said. He also warned of "a
major challenge in the future of those of the
fighters who don't wish to return to previous civilian occupations."
Gadhafi was killed when revolutionary fighters
overwhelmed him and the last of his loyalists in
his coastal hometown Sirte, the last bastion of
his regime to be captured after weeks of heavy
fighting. Authorities have promised to bury Gadhafi in
accordance with Islamic traditions calling for
quick interment, but Information Minister
Mahmoud Shammam said the burial was delayed
because officials were debating "what the best
place is to bury him." Mohamed Sayeh, a senior member of the
governing National Transitional Council, said that
Gadhafi's burial had been delayed until his death
can be examined by the International Criminal
Court.
Account of the capture According to most accounts from fighters on the
ground and their commanders, Gadhafi and his
loyalists were in a convoy trying to flee when
NATO airstrikes hit two of the vehicles. Then
revolutionary forces moved in and clashed with
the loyalists for several hours. Slideshow: Conflict in Libya Gadhafi
and his bodyguards fled their cars and
took refuge in a nearby drainage tunnel, where
they were captured.
Most accounts agree that Gadhafi died from
wounds 30 to 40 minutes later as an ambulance
took him to Misrata. But accounts differ over how he suffered those wounds.
Most commanders and fighters at the scene with
whom The Associated Press has spoken say that
when he was captured, Gadhafi already was
fatally wounded. In the videos of his capture,
however, he has blood on his head, but none on his chest or abdomen.
At one point, his shirt is
pulled up to his chest, but no wound is visible.
Shammam said Gadhafi was wounded after his
capture. "It seems like the bullet was a stray and
it could have come from the revolutionaries or
the loyalists," Shammam said. Other fighters, commanders and witnesses have
not spoken of any such crossfire or further
clashes. Siraq al-Hamali, a 21-year-old fighter,
told AP that he rode in the vehicle carrying
Gadhafi as it left Sirte. He did not mention coming
under fire and said Gadhafi died en route of wounds he already had.
Video: The reign of Moammar Gadhafi Even reports of the coroner's
conclusions were
confused over which wound was fatal — some
said it was the shot to the head, others said it
was a shot to the liver.
Muatassim, who had been his father's feared
national security adviser, was captured alive separately in Sirte, and
how he died also remains
unknown.
In a video aired Friday on Al-Rai, the 34-year-old
Muatassim, wearing a bloodied undershirt, sits
on a mattress in a room with fighters around
him. He takes a swig of water and smokes a cigarette as he argues with
at least one man
who accused him of robbing the country and
abusing its sons.
The fighter then orders Muatassim to say "Allahu
Akbar" or "God is great" before the video cuts
to a segment with Muatassim lying subdued on the mattress with his
forearm on his forehead. He
also appears to check for an injury on his collar
bone. The last scene is of Muatassim lying dead,
apparently in a hospital, with a huge gash in his
chest. The Associated Press, Reuters and
msnbc.comstaff contributed to this report.