Pressure grows for Gaddafi death investigation
Related Story: Gaddafi in meat locker amid burial indecision
Related Story: Gaddafi body taken to rebel stronghold
Related Story: Leaders hail Gaddafi death as end of tyranny
Related Story: Social media: World responds to Gaddafi's death
Video: Council hopes Gaddafi's death will lead to peace(7pm TV News NSW)
Video: Gaddafi's iron fist rule comes to an end (7pm TV News NSW)
Map: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
ABC/wires======================================================
Updated October 22, 2011 13:07:13
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Libyan authorities are coming under pressure to give a full account of the death of Moamar Gaddafi amid concerns the former dictator may have been executed - a war crime under international law.
The corpses of Gaddafi and his son Moutassim remain in refrigerated containers in the city of Misrata, where they were viewed by crowds of people on Friday.
The coroner there has said he will conduct an autopsy on Saturday, and it is still not clear when or if the Gaddafis will be buried.
But there are amid lingering question marks over exactly how the slain despot, who died after being shot in the legs and head on Thursday in his home town of Sirte, met his end.
A pro-Gaddafi television station based in Syria has broadcast a statement from members of Gaddafi's family, in which they say they believe he was assassinated.
They are backing calls from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay for an investigation into his death and that of his son.
Images filmed on mobile phones before and after Gaddafi's death showed him wounded and bloodied but clearly alive after his capture in his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, and then dead amidst a jostling crowd of anti-Gaddafi fighters.
"If you take these two videos together, they are rather disturbing because you see someone who has been captured alive and then you see the same person dead," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said.
Asked whether Gaddafi may have been executed, he said: "It has to be one possibility when you look at these two videos. So that's something that an investigation needs to look into."
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for a full investigation, while in London, foreign secretary William Hague made it clear Britain does not approve of "extrajudicial killing".
Under the Geneva Conventions which lay down the rules of conduct in armed conflict, it is prohibited to torture, humiliate or murder detainees.
"If Colonel Gaddafi was killed after his capture, it would constitute a war crime and those responsible should be brought to justice," Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch was interviewed by CNN in Sirte near the drainage ditch where Gaddafi was captured.
"We do not think he was caught in crossfire. Did Moamar Gaddafi die from wounds or did he receive a fatal head wound after he left this area?" he asked.
"We are calling for an autopsy and an investigation. This is a blemish on the new Libya that he died under suspicious circumstances."
But a senior member of the National Transitional Council, Mohammed Sayeh, says he doubts Gaddafi was deliberately killed.
NTC leaders claim he was shot in the head when he was caught "in crossfire" between his supporters and new regime fighters soon after his capture at the sewage culvert where he had taken refuge.
In Washington, the state department's spokesman Mark Toner says the NTC has already been working to determine the precise cause and circumstances of Gaddafi's death.
He has called for this process to be open and transparent.
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Libyan authorities are coming under pressure to give a full account of the death of Moamar Gaddafi amid concerns the former dictator may have been executed - a war crime under international law.
The corpses of Gaddafi and his son Moutassim remain in refrigerated containers in the city of Misrata, where they were viewed by crowds of people on Friday.
The coroner there has said he will conduct an autopsy on Saturday, and it is still not clear when or if the Gaddafis will be buried.
But there are amid lingering question marks over exactly how the slain despot, who died after being shot in the legs and head on Thursday in his home town of Sirte, met his end.
A pro-Gaddafi television station based in Syria has broadcast a statement from members of Gaddafi's family, in which they say they believe he was assassinated.
They are backing calls from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay for an investigation into his death and that of his son.
Images filmed on mobile phones before and after Gaddafi's death showed him wounded and bloodied but clearly alive after his capture in his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, and then dead amidst a jostling crowd of anti-Gaddafi fighters.
"If you take these two videos together, they are rather disturbing because you see someone who has been captured alive and then you see the same person dead," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said.
Asked whether Gaddafi may have been executed, he said: "It has to be one possibility when you look at these two videos. So that's something that an investigation needs to look into."
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for a full investigation, while in London, foreign secretary William Hague made it clear Britain does not approve of "extrajudicial killing".
Under the Geneva Conventions which lay down the rules of conduct in armed conflict, it is prohibited to torture, humiliate or murder detainees.
"If Colonel Gaddafi was killed after his capture, it would constitute a war crime and those responsible should be brought to justice," Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch was interviewed by CNN in Sirte near the drainage ditch where Gaddafi was captured.
"We do not think he was caught in crossfire. Did Moamar Gaddafi die from wounds or did he receive a fatal head wound after he left this area?" he asked.
"We are calling for an autopsy and an investigation. This is a blemish on the new Libya that he died under suspicious circumstances."
But a senior member of the National Transitional Council, Mohammed Sayeh, says he doubts Gaddafi was deliberately killed.
NTC leaders claim he was shot in the head when he was caught "in crossfire" between his supporters and new regime fighters soon after his capture at the sewage culvert where he had taken refuge.
In Washington, the state department's spokesman Mark Toner says the NTC has already been working to determine the precise cause and circumstances of Gaddafi's death.
He has called for this process to be open and transparent.
'I shot Gaddafi'
A video posted on the internet by Benghazi youth Sanad al-Sadek al-Ureibi has added fuel to the speculation over how Gaddafi died.
In the video, the young Libyan fighter claims he captured Gaddafi and shot him twice, fatally wounding him.
He is shown being interviewed by a number of unidentified men, some of them wearing military fatigues, who are congratulating him.
They show to the camera a gold ring and a bloody jacket allegedly belonging to Gaddafi, with the ring being engraved with the name of Gaddafi's second wife, Safia, and the September 10, 1970 - the date of their marriage.
"I fired two bullets at him, one hit under his armpit, the other his head. He did not die immediately. It took him half an hour," Ureibi said.
Ureibi said he neutralised Gaddafi, who was carrying a gold pistol, by grabbing his arms.
"I slapped him. He said to me 'you are like my son.' I slapped him a second time. He said, 'I am like your father.' Then I grabbed him by the hair and put him on the ground," he said.
He said he wanted to take Gaddafi to Benghazi, but when Misrati fighters insisted on taking the fallen leader back to their city, he decided to open fire.
Gaddafi's death is a setback to many who had hoped to see him tried in court.
That includes campaigners seeking the full truth about the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland of Pan Am flight 103 which claimed 270 lives, mainly Americans, and for which one of Gaddafi's agents was convicted.
Jim Swire, the father of one of the Lockerbie victims, said "there is much still to be resolved and we may now have lost an opportunity for getting nearer the truth".
Dr Swire says he is disappointed that Gaddafi will not be interrogated.
"As far as the victims of Lockerbie are concerned, I think it's sad that this man was captured alive and then killed by his captors," he said.
"I had hoped forlornly that if he were captured the captors would allow him to be extradited to the International Criminal Court and his voice might have helped us in our search for the truth."
But Kathy Tedeschi, whose first husband Bill Daniels died in the atrocity, was less measured, saying "I hope he's in hell with Hitler".
A video posted on the internet by Benghazi youth Sanad al-Sadek al-Ureibi has added fuel to the speculation over how Gaddafi died.
In the video, the young Libyan fighter claims he captured Gaddafi and shot him twice, fatally wounding him.
He is shown being interviewed by a number of unidentified men, some of them wearing military fatigues, who are congratulating him.
They show to the camera a gold ring and a bloody jacket allegedly belonging to Gaddafi, with the ring being engraved with the name of Gaddafi's second wife, Safia, and the September 10, 1970 - the date of their marriage.
"I fired two bullets at him, one hit under his armpit, the other his head. He did not die immediately. It took him half an hour," Ureibi said.
Ureibi said he neutralised Gaddafi, who was carrying a gold pistol, by grabbing his arms.
"I slapped him. He said to me 'you are like my son.' I slapped him a second time. He said, 'I am like your father.' Then I grabbed him by the hair and put him on the ground," he said.
He said he wanted to take Gaddafi to Benghazi, but when Misrati fighters insisted on taking the fallen leader back to their city, he decided to open fire.
Gaddafi's death is a setback to many who had hoped to see him tried in court.
That includes campaigners seeking the full truth about the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland of Pan Am flight 103 which claimed 270 lives, mainly Americans, and for which one of Gaddafi's agents was convicted.
Jim Swire, the father of one of the Lockerbie victims, said "there is much still to be resolved and we may now have lost an opportunity for getting nearer the truth".
Dr Swire says he is disappointed that Gaddafi will not be interrogated.
"As far as the victims of Lockerbie are concerned, I think it's sad that this man was captured alive and then killed by his captors," he said.
"I had hoped forlornly that if he were captured the captors would allow him to be extradited to the International Criminal Court and his voice might have helped us in our search for the truth."
But Kathy Tedeschi, whose first husband Bill Daniels died in the atrocity, was less measured, saying "I hope he's in hell with Hitler".
Facing the future
Gaddafi ruled Libya for more than four decades until the Arab Spring reached Libya in February, leading to a civil war.
The NTC is set to make an announcement declaring Libya's complete liberation, which will then clear the way for elections.
Any interim government faces a huge challenge to rebuild the country's shattered infrastructure, disarm thousands of Libyans who have taken part in the war, and attempt to reunite the country.
NATO leaders have met to review the organisation's air campaign in Libya and expect it to end by October 31.
Western leaders are anxious the country avoids taking a similar path to Iraq in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who spearheaded a Franco-British move in NATO to back the revolt against Gaddafi, hailed a turn of events that few had expected so soon, since there had been little evidence that Gaddafi himself was in Sirte.
But he also alluded to fears that, without the glue of hatred for Gaddafi, the new Libya could descend, like post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, into bloody factionalism.
"The liberation of Sirte must signal... the start of a process... to establish a democratic system in which all groups in the country have their place and where fundamental freedoms are guaranteed," he said.
Gaddafi ruled Libya for more than four decades until the Arab Spring reached Libya in February, leading to a civil war.
The NTC is set to make an announcement declaring Libya's complete liberation, which will then clear the way for elections.
Any interim government faces a huge challenge to rebuild the country's shattered infrastructure, disarm thousands of Libyans who have taken part in the war, and attempt to reunite the country.
NATO leaders have met to review the organisation's air campaign in Libya and expect it to end by October 31.
Western leaders are anxious the country avoids taking a similar path to Iraq in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who spearheaded a Franco-British move in NATO to back the revolt against Gaddafi, hailed a turn of events that few had expected so soon, since there had been little evidence that Gaddafi himself was in Sirte.
But he also alluded to fears that, without the glue of hatred for Gaddafi, the new Libya could descend, like post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, into bloody factionalism.
"The liberation of Sirte must signal... the start of a process... to establish a democratic system in which all groups in the country have their place and where fundamental freedoms are guaranteed," he said.
Related Story: Gaddafi in meat locker amid burial indecision
Related Story: Gaddafi body taken to rebel stronghold
Related Story: Leaders hail Gaddafi death as end of tyranny
Related Story: Social media: World responds to Gaddafi's death
Video: Council hopes Gaddafi's death will lead to peace(7pm TV News NSW)
Video: Gaddafi's iron fist rule comes to an end (7pm TV News NSW)
Map: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
ABC/wires======================================================
.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-22/call-for-probe-into-gaddafi-death/3595198/?site=melbourne
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