BBC News – Libya: Muammar Gaddafi’s body ‘undergoes post-mortem’
BBC News – Libya: Muammar Gaddafi’s body ‘undergoes post-mortem’.
Libya: Muammar Gaddafi’s body ‘undergoes post-mortem’
People are queuing to see Gaddafi’s body which is being kept in a cold storage container in Misrata
A post-mortem examination on the body of Libya’s ex-leader Muammar Gaddafi has been performed in Misrata, an official told the BBC.
He said the body would be handed over to relatives. The burial has been delayed, with officials divided about what to do with the remains.
The UN has called for an inquiry about into Col Gaddafi’s killing on Thursday.
Meanwhile the commander of the forces that captured him in Sirte gave details of the events leading to his death.
In an exclusive BBC interview, Omran el Oweib said the injured colonel had been dragged from the drainage pipe where he had been hiding, took 10 steps and collapsed.
He said gunfire then broke out between Gaddafi supporters and fighters of the National Transitional Council (NTC). It was impossible to tell who fired the fatal bullet, he added.
At the scene
We’ve just been shown into a refrigerator compartment in a market on the outskirts of Misrata. Inside is the body of Muammar Gaddafi. He’s got various wounds on his body and what appear to be wounds on his head, although it’s not clear whether there is in fact a head shot that was talked about as the cause of death.
The crucial thing is that this is recognisably the former Libyan leader, his curly hair and trademark goatee beard. There are people queuing up outside still to view the body, the occasional chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ ['God is great'], going up from the crowd, who are all donning face masks to overcome the smell.
It’s now coming up to two days since the Libyan leader was captured and killed, and still he hasn’t been buried, contrary to Islamic custom.
Mr Oweib said he had driven the former leader to a field hospital, where he was pronounced dead. “I tried to save his life but I couldn’t,” the commander said.
Questions have been mounting as to what happened in Col Gaddafi’s last moments. Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said he had been shot in crossfire.
Video footage suggests he was dragged through the streets.
Secret burial?
The US has called on officials to give an account in an “open and transparent manner”. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the “way his death happened poses an entire number of questions”.
Mr Lavrov called for a full investigation, echoing a similar call by UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.
However, correspondents say few Libyans are worried about the manner of their former dictator’s humiliating end. Celebrations continued late into the night across Libya.
NTC foreign affairs spokesman Ahmed Gebreel told the BBC that the post-mortem had been carried out on Saturday.
However another official, Fathi al-Bashaagha, told AFP news agency that there would be no autopsy.
Hundreds of Libyans have been queuing to get a glimpse of the bodies of Col Gaddafi and his son Mutassim – who was also killed on Thursday. They had been placed in a meat storage facility.
It is unclear whether the ex-leader will be buried in Misrata, in his hometown of Sirte, or elsewhere.
Officials from the NTC have said they want a secret burial to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine.
COMMENT: AS PER MOST LIBYAN FREEDOM FIGHTER, MANY LIBYAN PEOPLE AND MOST CRITICS: “DO GOOD AND HAVE GOOD OR ITS VICE VERSA.
COMMENT: AS PER MOST LIBYAN FREEDOM FIGHTER, MANY LIBYAN PEOPLE AND MOST CRITICS: “DO GOOD AND HAVE GOOD OR ITS VICE VERSA.
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