Gaddafi Dead: Funeral Delayed to Investige How Dictator Was Killed (VIDEO and PHOTOS)
Libyan officials have come out to say that the burial of Col. Muammar Gaddafi will be delayed to enable further investigation into the death of the 69-year-old former “king of kings.”
The National Transitional Council (NTC) has also delayed the burial in order to arrange a secure location to place Gaddafi so as to insure that a shrine is not dedicated to the slain leader.
The final moments of Gaddafi’s life are shrouded in confusion as conflicting reports have surfaced about exactly how the strongman died and who fired the gun that actually killed him.
Initially reports suggested that he was executed by revolutionary forces in front of a mob of fighters but other reports suggest that Gaddafi was actually killed by one of his own bodyguards to spare him further humiliation.
The NTC denies that Gaddafi was executed.
The United Nations human rights office called for an investigation into how Gaddafi died following the surfacing of videos and imagery.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights told the BBC that the death of Gaddafi could have been illegal.
Colville said, “People get killed in wars and that is recognized clearly in international law. On the other hand, it is also very clear under international law that summary executions, extra-judicial killings, are illegal.”
Mohamed Sayeh, a senior member of the NTC told the Associated Press that a “third party will come from outside of Libya to go through the paperwork.”
According to Islam, Gaddafi should be buried within 24 hours of his death and the transitional leadership has said that it will bury the dictator privately in accordance with Islamic tradition.
The body of Gaddafi is being kept in a cold storage in Misrata, the city his body was taken to after rebel fighters captured Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte.
The news of Gaddafi’s death captured worldwide headlines yesterday with disturbing pictures and videos emerging depicting a bloodied and beaten Gaddafi being manhandled in the streets of Sirte by the rebels that captured him.
According to reports, Gaddafi’s last words were, “Do you know right from wrong?”
The NTC is expected to announce the official liberation of Libya on Saturday in Benghazi.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT IN FOLLOWING VIDEO