Libya to investigate death of Gadhafi
Source: Agencies |
October 25, 2011, Tuesday
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LIBYA'S interim leader yesterday said he has ordered an investigation into Moammar Gadhafi's death in response to strong international pressure to determine how the ousted leader was killed by a bullet to the head shortly after he was captured alive.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said the National Transitional Council has formed a committee to investigate last Thursday's killing amid conflicting reports of how the man who ruled Libya for 42 years died.
Government officials have said initial findings suggest Gadhafi was killed in the crossfire as his supporters clashed with revolutionary forces in his hometown of Sirte.
But Abdul-Jalil raised a new possibility yesterday, suggesting Gadhafi could have been killed by his own supporters to prevent him from implicating them in past misdeeds under his regime.
He added: "Let us question who has the interest in the fact that Gadhafi will not be tried. Libyans want to try him for what he did to them, with executions, imprisonment and corruption. Free Libyans wanted to keep Gadhafi in prison and humiliate him as long as possible. Those who wanted him killed were those who were loyal to him or had played a role under him - his death was in their benefit."
The US, the UK and international rights groups have called for an investigation into whether Libya's former rebels killed a wounded Gadhafi after pulling him out of a drainage pipe in Sirte, the last city to fall to revolutionary forces after an eight-month civil war.
Critics have also said the gruesome spectacle of his bloodied body laid out in a commercial freezer for a fourth day of public viewing raises questions about the new leadership's commitment to the rule of law.
Abdul-Jalil said the transitional government has established a committee to determine what ultimately to do with Gadhafi's body and the decisions will be governed by religious edict.
Abdul-Jalil declared the country liberated on Sunday, launching the oil-rich nation on what is meant to be a two-year transition to democracy. But he also laid out plans with an Islamist tone that could disturb Western supporters. He said Islamic Sharia law will be the "basic source" of legislation, and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam will be nullified.
Abdul-Jalil also outlined several changes to align with Islamic law, such as banning banks from paying interest and lifting restrictions on the number of wives Libyan men can take.
Libyan leaders have said they will form a new interim government within a month of liberation and hold elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months of that.
Concern about human rights violations clouded the declaration of liberation.
US-based Human Rights Watch warned of a "trend of killings, looting and other abuses" by those who fought Gadhafi after finding 53 bodies, apparently of Gadhafi loyalists, some of whom it said may have been executed.
The bodies were found on the lawn of the abandoned Mahari hotel in Sirte. Some had their hands bound.
Human Rights Watch said: "This seems part of a trend of killings, looting and other abuses by armed anti-Gadhafi fighters who consider themselves above the law. It is imperative the transitional authorities take action to rein in these groups."
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said the National Transitional Council has formed a committee to investigate last Thursday's killing amid conflicting reports of how the man who ruled Libya for 42 years died.
Government officials have said initial findings suggest Gadhafi was killed in the crossfire as his supporters clashed with revolutionary forces in his hometown of Sirte.
But Abdul-Jalil raised a new possibility yesterday, suggesting Gadhafi could have been killed by his own supporters to prevent him from implicating them in past misdeeds under his regime.
He added: "Let us question who has the interest in the fact that Gadhafi will not be tried. Libyans want to try him for what he did to them, with executions, imprisonment and corruption. Free Libyans wanted to keep Gadhafi in prison and humiliate him as long as possible. Those who wanted him killed were those who were loyal to him or had played a role under him - his death was in their benefit."
The US, the UK and international rights groups have called for an investigation into whether Libya's former rebels killed a wounded Gadhafi after pulling him out of a drainage pipe in Sirte, the last city to fall to revolutionary forces after an eight-month civil war.
Critics have also said the gruesome spectacle of his bloodied body laid out in a commercial freezer for a fourth day of public viewing raises questions about the new leadership's commitment to the rule of law.
Abdul-Jalil said the transitional government has established a committee to determine what ultimately to do with Gadhafi's body and the decisions will be governed by religious edict.
Abdul-Jalil declared the country liberated on Sunday, launching the oil-rich nation on what is meant to be a two-year transition to democracy. But he also laid out plans with an Islamist tone that could disturb Western supporters. He said Islamic Sharia law will be the "basic source" of legislation, and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam will be nullified.
Abdul-Jalil also outlined several changes to align with Islamic law, such as banning banks from paying interest and lifting restrictions on the number of wives Libyan men can take.
Libyan leaders have said they will form a new interim government within a month of liberation and hold elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months of that.
Concern about human rights violations clouded the declaration of liberation.
US-based Human Rights Watch warned of a "trend of killings, looting and other abuses" by those who fought Gadhafi after finding 53 bodies, apparently of Gadhafi loyalists, some of whom it said may have been executed.
The bodies were found on the lawn of the abandoned Mahari hotel in Sirte. Some had their hands bound.
Human Rights Watch said: "This seems part of a trend of killings, looting and other abuses by armed anti-Gadhafi fighters who consider themselves above the law. It is imperative the transitional authorities take action to rein in these groups."
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