Disarray over Gadhafi as body lies in freezer
Source: Agencies |
October 22, 2011, Saturday
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Moammar Gadhafi's blood-streaked body was stashed in a commercial freezer at a shopping center yesterday as Libyans tried to keep it out of the public eye and away from crowds as they figure out where and when to bury the hated leader.
An AP reporter saw the body at the shopping center in the city of Misrata, home of the fighters who killed the ousted leader a day earlier in his hometown of Sirte.
The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, was laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of an emptied-out room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the center normally keep perishables. Bullet holes were visible on the left side of his head – with the bullet still lodged in his head, according to the presiding doctor – and in the center of his chest and stomach. His hair was matted and dried blood streaked his arms and head.
Outside the shopping center, hundreds of civilians jostled to get inside for a peek at the body, shouting "God is great" and "We want to see the dog."
The makeshift provisions for the corpse – at one point it was kept in a private house – reflected the disorganization and confusion that has surrounded Gadhafi's death.
His burial had been planned for yesterday, in accordance with Islamic traditions calling for quick interment. But the interim government delayed it, saying the circumstances of his death still had to be determined. Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam also said authorities are "debating right now what the best place is to bury him."
Gadhafi was captured alive, and there have been contradictory accounts of how he received his fatal wounds - raising the question of whether he was shot to death while in custody, something Libyan officials have denied.
New images surfaced of the 69-year-old Gadhafi being taunted and beaten by the fighters who captured him. By authorities' account, at the time the video was taken Gadhafi had already suffered the wounds that would kill him about a half-hour later - shots to the head, chest and belly. In the video, there is blood on Gadhafi's head, but none visible on his chest or belly, and he is talking and sitting up.
International rights groups called for an investigation into his death. "More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling the images of Gadhafi's last moments very disturbing.
One of Gadhafi's sons, Muatassim, was also killed in the city of Sirte, but the fate of Gadhafi's one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam was unclear. Some Libyan officials said he was wounded and was being held in a hospital in Zlitan. But Shammam said that Seif al-Islam's whereabouts were not confirmed, leaving open the possibility he escaped.
Many Libyans awoke after a night of jubilant celebration and celebratory gunfire with hope for the future but also concern that their new rulers, the National Transitional Council, might repeat the mistakes of the past.
Khaled Almslaty, a 42-year-old clothing vendor in Tripoli, said he wished Gadhafi had been captured alive.
"But I believe he got what he deserved because if we prosecuted him for the smallest of his crimes, he would be punished by death," he said. "Now we hope the NTC will accelerate the formation of a new government and ... won't waste time on irrelevant conflicts and competing for authority and positions."
Thousands converged for Friday prayers on Martyrs' Square, formerly known as Green Square and the site where Gadhafi made many defiant speeches trying to rally support as the uprising against him unfolded.
One group of men danced and hoisted the country's new tricolor flag, chanting slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who also faces an uprising against his rule as part of the Arab Spring that has also seen the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia ousted.
"It's your turn Bashar, zenga, zenga, dar, dar," they chanted. "Zenga, zenga, dar, dar" is Arabic for "alley by alley, house by house," a phrase used by Gadhafi in his last months in power, referring to how his forces would hunt down those who rose up against him.
Women, who wore headscarves and prayed in a separate section, hoisted a banner that said, "It's a new morning without the colonel," using Gadhafi's military designation.
Gadhafi was killed as rebel fighters overwhelmed him and his last die-hard loyalists in Sirte, capturing the city after a heavily fought, weeks-long siege.
An AP reporter saw the body at the shopping center in the city of Misrata, home of the fighters who killed the ousted leader a day earlier in his hometown of Sirte.
The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, was laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of an emptied-out room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the center normally keep perishables. Bullet holes were visible on the left side of his head – with the bullet still lodged in his head, according to the presiding doctor – and in the center of his chest and stomach. His hair was matted and dried blood streaked his arms and head.
Outside the shopping center, hundreds of civilians jostled to get inside for a peek at the body, shouting "God is great" and "We want to see the dog."
The makeshift provisions for the corpse – at one point it was kept in a private house – reflected the disorganization and confusion that has surrounded Gadhafi's death.
His burial had been planned for yesterday, in accordance with Islamic traditions calling for quick interment. But the interim government delayed it, saying the circumstances of his death still had to be determined. Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam also said authorities are "debating right now what the best place is to bury him."
Gadhafi was captured alive, and there have been contradictory accounts of how he received his fatal wounds - raising the question of whether he was shot to death while in custody, something Libyan officials have denied.
New images surfaced of the 69-year-old Gadhafi being taunted and beaten by the fighters who captured him. By authorities' account, at the time the video was taken Gadhafi had already suffered the wounds that would kill him about a half-hour later - shots to the head, chest and belly. In the video, there is blood on Gadhafi's head, but none visible on his chest or belly, and he is talking and sitting up.
International rights groups called for an investigation into his death. "More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling the images of Gadhafi's last moments very disturbing.
One of Gadhafi's sons, Muatassim, was also killed in the city of Sirte, but the fate of Gadhafi's one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam was unclear. Some Libyan officials said he was wounded and was being held in a hospital in Zlitan. But Shammam said that Seif al-Islam's whereabouts were not confirmed, leaving open the possibility he escaped.
Many Libyans awoke after a night of jubilant celebration and celebratory gunfire with hope for the future but also concern that their new rulers, the National Transitional Council, might repeat the mistakes of the past.
Khaled Almslaty, a 42-year-old clothing vendor in Tripoli, said he wished Gadhafi had been captured alive.
"But I believe he got what he deserved because if we prosecuted him for the smallest of his crimes, he would be punished by death," he said. "Now we hope the NTC will accelerate the formation of a new government and ... won't waste time on irrelevant conflicts and competing for authority and positions."
Thousands converged for Friday prayers on Martyrs' Square, formerly known as Green Square and the site where Gadhafi made many defiant speeches trying to rally support as the uprising against him unfolded.
One group of men danced and hoisted the country's new tricolor flag, chanting slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who also faces an uprising against his rule as part of the Arab Spring that has also seen the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia ousted.
"It's your turn Bashar, zenga, zenga, dar, dar," they chanted. "Zenga, zenga, dar, dar" is Arabic for "alley by alley, house by house," a phrase used by Gadhafi in his last months in power, referring to how his forces would hunt down those who rose up against him.
Women, who wore headscarves and prayed in a separate section, hoisted a banner that said, "It's a new morning without the colonel," using Gadhafi's military designation.
Gadhafi was killed as rebel fighters overwhelmed him and his last die-hard loyalists in Sirte, capturing the city after a heavily fought, weeks-long siege.
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