Libya’s NTC declares liberation Day

Libya’s NTC declares liberation day

Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) has declared the "Liberation of Libya", eight-months after the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule began.

"We declare to the whole world that we have liberated our beloved country, with its cities, villages, hill-tops, mountains, deserts and skies," said an official at the ceremony in Benghazi, where the uprising first erupted in February and the base of the National Transitional Council headquarters.

Thousands of people in Kish Square sang the national anthem and waved flags, both of which date back to the monarchy that Gaddafi overthrew in a 1969 coup.

In Martyrs' Square in Tripoli-formerly Green Square , crowds proclaimed the start of a new era in the country.

The declaration signals the start of the transition to democracy in Libya , with elections promised by June next year.

The NTC chose to stage the event in the eastern city because the people there led February's uprising against Col Gaddafi's rule. But the choice of Benghazi also indicates the challenges that still lie ahead in uniting the country.

There have been some misgivings in both Tripoli and Misratah about the people of Benghazi claiming "the glory" for the liberation of the country.
The NTC is still working to establish an effective base in Tripoli , several months after the city was freed from Gaddafi's control.

Disarming the fighting militias, who have local and tribal loyalties, will also test the authority of the NTC. But overall, the mood in Libya is one of relief and celebration.

New era

The council on Sunday said it would now embark on the process of building a democracy and conduct the country's first free elections next year.

Libya's country's interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, who announced that he was stepping down on Saturday, declared that the country’s new leaders now have a "very limited opportunity" to put aside their differences.

According to Jibril, progress in Libya would require stronger resolution from the NTC's leaders, as well as from the six million citizens of the country.

He said: "First, "What kind of resolve the NTC will show in the next few days? "And the other thing depends mainly on the Libyan people - whether they differentiate between the past and the future."

He added: "I am counting on them to look ahead and remember the kind of agony they went through in the last 42 years."

Gaddafi-Post-Mortem

Meanwhile, a post-mortem examination has confirmed that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi died of a shot to the head.

Libya's chief forensic pathologist, Dr Othman al Zintani said doctors had completed the examination of the Libyan leader's body, but would not reveal further details.

There has been international alarm that the deposed dictator was apparently shot by his captors in a frenzied attack after he was seized alive near Sirte.

The corpse was reportedly returned to public view after the post-mortem examination was carried out.

For now, the interim government is said to have reached a deal with Col Gaddafi's extended family to hand over his body.

NTC Foreign Affairs spokesman Ahmed Jibreel, said though the transfer could be imminent, no decision had been agreed on where the Col Gaddafi would be buried.

Gaddafi's family, currently in exile in Algeria , want his body and that of his son, Mutassim, handed over to members of his tribe.

Arguments have already surfaced as to what to do with Gaddafi's body, which has not been accorded a swift burial as required under Islamic law and local tradition. Furthermore, the body has begun to decompose.

Those who queued to view it on Saturday were obliged to cover their faces with surgical masks.

Macabre tourist attraction

In a related development, a video circulating on the internet shows a crowd gathering around a man who claimed to have fired the fatal bullet.

This contradicts claims by the NTC’s interim leadership that Gaddafi was fatally wounded in crossfire while being transported to hospital. Colonel Gaddafi had bullet wounds to the head and chest.

Thousands of Libyans queued to view Gaddafi's bloodied corpse at a commercial freezer in a shopping centre in the city of Misratah, a macabre-style tourist attraction, with people filing past the body filming it on their mobile phones.

Gaddafi, his son Mutassim, and Abu Bakr Younus, his defence minister, were killed on Thursday, when NTC forces overran his hometown of Sirte. The fate of Saif al-Islam, another one of Gaddafi's influential sons, remains unknown.

Agency Reports/Skynews/Uche Iheanacho
Additional Research/Editing: Hajia Sani