Gaddafi Top Aid Describes Leader's Desperate Last Days
The world witnessed the last brutal moments of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s life, but now a former top official in the Gaddafi regime has come out to share what the last days were like for the African despot before he met his bitter end.
Mansour Daou was a top security official in the 42-year Gaddafi regime and remained by Gaddafi’s side until the former leader met his fate in Sirte at the hands of rebel soldiers.
In an interview with CNN, Daou described the living conditions a group of Gaddafi loyalists faced while hiding out in Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Prior to Gaddafi’s capture, a group of around 200 loyal men roamed from abandoned home to abandoned home scrambling for food with no power, water, or communication with the outside world.
He told the news agency, “Our lives had turned by about 180 degrees.”
Some of Gaddafi's loyalists remained in hiding with him until his capture, however, others chose to flee for their safety.
According to Daou, who was considered to be the “Black Box” of the Gaddafi regime, Gaddafi’s final days were spent reading books and writing. However, the former "king of kings" was far from calm.
Daou told CNN that Gaddafi’s behavior in his final days was unpredictable saying, “He was very worried and erratic – this could be because he was afraid.”
Nevertheless, Gaddafi met his fate by his own accord.
As rebel troops neared the Libyan capital of Tripoli in August, Gaddafi was determined to stay in Libya and go back to the village where he was born perhaps to spend his “last moments,” but the former security official said that he feared that the move on behalf of Gaddafi was “suicide.”
Aides pleaded with Gaddafi to leave the country but the former ruler believed that he could regain power. It was in his hometown of Sirte where Gaddafi was captured and eventually killed.
Daou admitted to regret for his part in the Gaddafi regime, but added: “You sometimes regret when it is too late.”
The exact circumstances surrounding Gaddafi’s death remain unknown but the current ruling National Transitional Council has said that it would put on trial those responsible for the death of Africa’s longest serving leader.
NTC vice chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said, “Whoever is responsible for that (Gaddafi’s killing) will be judged and given a fair trial.”
He added, “I am sure that was an individual act and not an act of revolutionaries or the national army.”
Daou now remains in a prison in Misrata and awaits a trial of his own. Of the liberation movement Daou said that in the end it was the people’s will and that now the job of the NTC and the Libyan people must preserve liberation and unity in the country.
