Gaddafi Dead: Libya Prime Minister Confirms Killing (PHOTO)
Moammar Gaddafi’s death has been confirmed by Libya’s prime minister as Sirte was overrun by rebels on Thursday.
The former Libyan leader was killed while thousands of Gaddafi revolutionary fighters overran his loyalist stronghold in a 90-minute siege.
“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril during a news conference in Tripolo, Libya. “Moammar Gaddafi has been killed.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Confirmation came after many conflicting reports about the attack in Sirte, which served as Gaddafi’s last refuge about 280 miles east of Tripoli. At first, it was unknown whether the 69-year-old autocrat was killed by a NATO airstrike or by Libyan revolutionaries who caught him trying to flee the city.
According to Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam, Gaddafi was riding in a convoy when it came under fire, and news reports indicated that he had been captured or wounded.
The Libyan television station Al-Ahrar reported on Thursday that revolutionary fighters had finally seized Sirte and in the process captured the long sought after Gaddafi.
Gaddafi was wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for crimes against humanity. It was believed that after rebels captured Tripoli and were unable to find Gaddafi there, that he was hiding in his hometown of Sirte.
Furthermore, a National Transitional Council official, Abdel Majid Mledgta, told Reuters that the former leader was captured and wounded in both legs early Thursday morning.
The official said, “He was also hit in his head. There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”
A picture taken on a cell phone has been released by the AFP where the dead body resembles the former ruler.
Enthusiastic celebrations have ensued in the nation after the victory in an eight-month long war backed by NATO. The streets of Tripoli are filled with horns blaring and celebratory gun shots into the air.
Also, Abdallah Naker, the head of the Tripoli Revolutionary Council, has announced that Gaddafi's son Mutassim Gaddafi was captured on Wednesday in Sirte.
National Transitional Council members confirmed that Mutassim was captured in an uninjured but exhausted state.
NTC members also told the news agency that Gaddafi’s son would be taken to Benghazi, Libya, where he will be held for questioning at the Boatneh military camp.
It appears as though the NTC also now controls 80 percent of Sirte, one of the remaining pro-Gaddafi strongholds. If the capture of Mutassim proves to be true, analysts argue that it would be a major breakthrough for the NTC.
Anti-Gaddafi forces previously reported captures of Gaddafi family members that ultimately proved to be false.
During the major fighting between rebel forces and pro-Gaddafi loyalists, Mutassim kept out of the public eye, although he was reported to have been involved with efforts to put down the growing rebellion that eventually ousted his father.
Upon the announcement of the capture, crowds of people erupted in celebrations throughout the old city of Sirte waving Libya’s new flag and shouting, “God is greatest.” In Tripoli celebratory crowds gathered as fireworks lit up the sky.
A demonstrator told Reuters, “We got the little one, now we want the big one.”
The demonstrator was referring to the confirmed-dead Muammar Gaddafi.
His wife, daughter and two of his sons escaped to Algeria in August. Another son, Saadi, took refuge in Niger.
Libya’s new rulers continue to fight pro-Gaddafi loyalists in Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, and Mutassim was reportedly captured following a four-hour firefight in the city when he was trying to escape the chaos in a car with an unnamed family.
National Transitional Council members confirmed to Reuters that Mutassim was captured in an uninjured but exhausted state.
NTC members also told the news agency that Gaddafi’s son would be taken to Benghazi, Libya, where he will be held for questioning at the Boatneh military camp.
