Gaddafi buried in secret desert location - official

Showing the dead bodies of Gaddafi, son, Mutassim and former Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis

Gaddafi buried in secret desert location - official

The bodies of ousted Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, his son Mo’tassim and a top aide were buried at dawn on Tuesday in a secret location, with a few relatives and officials in attendance, a Misrata military council official said.

In a text message shown to the Associated Press, spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal said Islamic prayers were read over the bodies. The information could not be independently verified.

An NTC official had said several days ago that there would be only four witnesses to the burial, and all would swear on the Koran never to reveal the location.

The bodies of Gaddafi, his son Mo’tassim and former Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis had been held in cold storage in the port city of Misrata since the dictator and members of his entourage were captured near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday.

Gaddafi and Mo’tassim were captured alive, with some injuries, but died in unclear circumstances later that day.

Preventing vandalism

Libya's interim leaders have promised an investigation, responding to mounting international pressure.

On Monday, Beitalmal had pointed out that the three would be buried in unmarked graves in a secret location to prevent vandalism. Presumably, the graves would also be kept hidden to avoid turning them into shrines for Gaddafi loyalists.

Beitalmal said international organizations asking to see the burial site would be given access.
  
Autopsy results

Over the weekend, Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman el-Zentani performed autopsies on the three bodies and also took DNA samples to confirm their identities.

El-Zentani stated that Gaddafi died from a shot to the head, and said the full report would be released later this week, after he had presented his findings to the Attorney General.

It remains unclear when exactly Gaddafi suffered the fatal injury — before he was taken into custody or after he had been captured by revolutionary fighters.

Investigations underway

The UN human rights arm has joined the Gaddafi family in seeking an inquiry. NTC chairman Mustafa Jalil told a news conference on Monday that the NTC had formed a committee to investigate.

Saif al-Islam at large

An NTC official said Gaddafi's long-time heir-apparent Saif al-Islam was in the remote southern desert and set to flee Libya, with the NTC powerless to stop him.

"He's on the triangle of Niger and Algeria. He's south of Ghat, the Ghat area. He was given a false Libyan passport from the area of Murzuq. The region is very, very difficult to monitor and encircle. The region is a desert region and it has ... many, many exit routes", he said.

He said Muammar Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, like Saif al-Islam, is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

What next after liberation?

The death of the fallen strongman allowed the NTC to touch off mass rejoicing by declaring Libya's long-awaited "liberation" on Sunday in Benghazi, the seat of the revolt.

But it also highlighted a lack of central control over disparate armed groups, and the jockeying for power among local commanders as negotiations begin in earnest to form an interim government that can run free elections.

"Leaders from different regions, cities, want to negotiate over everything – posts in government, budgets for cities, dissolving militias. It would be unusual if they did not (negotiate) after Muammar favoured only a few places for 40 years. There is no reason why it cannot be peaceful", a senior NTC official in Tripoli said, though he defended this as a healthy expression of freedom.

Reuters/NAN/Anaju Abu
Additional reports: AP/Williams/Ekata