Libyan fighters on Thursday overran the remaining positions of Moammar Gadhafi loyalists in his hometown of Sirte. Gaddafi . He was captured near his hometown of Sirte at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked, National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid said on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.
The NTC information minister Mahmoud Shammam said Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil was to confirm Gaddafi's death in a broadcast to the nation. The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official said.
"Gaddafi's body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters. Gaddafi's last stronghold, Sirte, had earlier fallen to forces loyal to the NTC, which formed after the collapse of the Gaddafi's regime.
NATO officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance to alliance rules, said the alliance also could not independently confirm whether Gadhafi was killed or captured. Gadhafi's capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.
The U.S. State Department could not confirm any of the reports about Gadhafi's capture or killing, a spokeswoman said. "Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter in the town said.
They chanted "Allah akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic, while one fighter climbed a traffic light pole to unfurl the revolution's flag, which he first kissed. Discarded military uniforms of Gadhafi's fighters littered the streets. Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity has not been seen in public in months.
Many believed he was hiding out in Sirte after rebel forces marched into Tripoli in August.
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| Moammar Gadhafi has killed in Sirte today. (Photo by Al-Jazeera) |
"Gaddafi's body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters. Gaddafi's last stronghold, Sirte, had earlier fallen to forces loyal to the NTC, which formed after the collapse of the Gaddafi's regime.
NATO officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance to alliance rules, said the alliance also could not independently confirm whether Gadhafi was killed or captured. Gadhafi's capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.
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| A mobile phone picture, purporting to be that of wounded leader Muammar Gaddafi, was circulated shortly after the news of his capture broke. |
The U.S. State Department could not confirm any of the reports about Gadhafi's capture or killing, a spokeswoman said. "Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter in the town said.
They chanted "Allah akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic, while one fighter climbed a traffic light pole to unfurl the revolution's flag, which he first kissed. Discarded military uniforms of Gadhafi's fighters littered the streets. Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity has not been seen in public in months.
Many believed he was hiding out in Sirte after rebel forces marched into Tripoli in August.
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