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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Muammar Gaddafi killed in Sirte


Libya's transitional government forces have taken full control of Sirte, the last city where Gaddafi loyalists had remained holed up, fighters and reporters say.

Soldiers hoisted the new NTC national flag on buildings in the centre of Col Muammar Gaddafi's hometown.
Captured image: A mobile phone picture, purporting to be that of wounded leader Muammar Gaddafi, was circulated shortly after the news of his capture broke
Unconfirmed reports quote officials as saying Col Gaddafi was captured there.

His supporters are still resisting government forces in the town of Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli.Colonel Ahmed Bani, the military spokesman of the National Transition Council, has confirmed to Al Jazeera that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed.

Abdul Hakim Belhaj, an NTC military chief, said Gaddafi had died of his wounds after being captured near his hometown Sirte.

The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official said.His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

"He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."Slumped against the bloodied legs of a revolutionary fighter, this is the picture which Libyan rebels say confirms that deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi has been killed.

The former Libyan dictator was reportedly found cowering in a hole in the ground at the centre of Sirte, after rebels moved through the seaside town during their final assault.

Fighter Mohammed Al Bibi told reporters that the toppled tyrant had pleaded 'Don't shoot, don't shoot' as he attempted to surrender.

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