Death of Muammar Gaddafi

Gaddafi took refuge in a large drainage pipe with several loyalists bodyguards. A nearby group of NTC fighters opened fire, wounding Gaddafi in the leg and back. According to one unnamed NTC fighter, one of Gaddafi's own loyalists also shot him, apparently to spare him from being captured.[17][18] A group of rebels approached the pipe where Gaddafi was hiding and ordered him to come out, which he did slowly. He was then dragged up to his feet as rebels shouted, "Muammar, Muammar!"[19]

However, a UN report released in March 2012 revealed a different account of Gaddafi's capture. Gaddafi was wounded by grenade fragmentation from a grenade thrown by one of his own men which bounced off a wall and fell in front of Gaddafi, shredding his flak jacket. He sat on the floor dazed and in shock, bleeding from a wound in the left temple. Then one of his group waved a white turban in surrender.[16]

Gaddafi was killed shortly afterwards. There are conflicting reports. According to one report, Gaddafi said "Please don't shoot!" prior to being shot,[20] and when questioned by Misratan rebel fighters about the damage done to Misrata by his forces, denied any involvement, and begged his captors not to hit or kill him. One fighter demanded Gaddafi stand up, but he struggled to do so.[21] Gaddafi can be heard in one video saying "God forbids this" and "Do you know right from wrong?" when being shouted at by his captors.[22][23] In a video of his arrest he can be seen draped on the hood of a car, held by rebel fighters.[24] A senior NTC official said that no order was given to execute Gaddafi.[24] According to another NTC source, "they captured him alive and while he was being taken away, they beat him and then they killed him".[24] Mahmoud Jibril gave an alternative account, stating that "when the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head."[25]

Several videos related to the death were broadcast by news channels and circulated via the Internet. The first shows footage of Gaddafi alive, his face and shirt bloodied, stumbling and being dragged toward an ambulance by armed militants chanting "God is great" in Arabic.[8][9] The video shows Gaddafi being sodomized with a bayonet.[26][27][28] Another shows Gaddafi, stripped to the waist, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, and in a pool of blood, together with jubilant fighters firing automatic weapons in the air.[8][9] A third video, posted on YouTube, shows fighters "hovering around his lifeless-looking body, posing for photographs and yanking his limp head up and down by the hair."[8][9][29] Another video shows him being stripped naked and verbally abused by his captors.[30]

Gaddafi's body was taken to Misrata, where a doctor's examination disclosed he had been shot in the head and abdomen.[31]

The interim Libyan authorities decided to keep Gaddafi's body "for a few days", NTC oil minister Ali Tarhouni said, "to make sure that everybody knows he is dead."[32] The body was moved to an industrial freezer where members of the public were permitted to view it[33] until 24 October.[34] Video shows Gaddafi's body on display in the center of an emptied public freezer in Misrata.[35] Some people traveled hundreds of kilometres to see proof that Gaddafi was dead; one traveler said, "God made the pharaoh as an example to the others. If he had been a good man, we would have buried him. But he chose this destiny for himself."[36] One reporter observed gunshot residue on the wounds, consistent with shots at close range.[22]

Gaddafi's body was displayed alongside that of his son, Mutassim Gaddafi, who also died in the custody of Misratan fighters after his capture in Sirte on 20 October. The younger Gaddafi's body was removed from the refrigerator for burial at the same time as his father's on 24 October.[37]

Although an NTC spokesman said Gaddafi's body would be returned to his family with a directive to keep his burial site secret after an autopsy had determined the cause of death,[10] the semi-autonomous military council in Misrata said it would be buried quickly instead, vetoing the idea of an autopsy.[38][39] Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent autopsy and an investigation into how Gaddafi died,[40] but Jibril said neither step was necessary.[41]

On 25 October, NTC representatives announced that Gaddafi's body had been buried in an unknown location in the desert early that morning, together with those of his son Mutassim Gaddafi and the regime's defense minister Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr.[42][43][44] A Dubai-based satellite TV channel Al Aan TV showed amateur footage of the funeral taking place at an unknown location where Islamic prayers were read.[45][46] Libya's Minister for Information Mahmoud Shammam said that a fatwa had declared that "Gaddafi should not be buried in Muslim cemeteries and should not be buried in a known place to avoid any sedition."[37]

Moments after it was reported that Gaddafi was killed, Fox News published an article titled "U.S. Drone Involved in Final Qaddafi Strike, as Obama Heralds Regime's 'End'",[47] noting that a U.S. Predator drone was involved in the airstrike on Gaddafi's convoy in the moments before his death. An anonymous US official subsequently described their policy in hindsight as "lead[ing] from behind".[48]

Because Libyan rebels had consistently told American government officials that they did not want overt foreign military assistance in toppling Gaddafi, covert military assistance was used (including arms shipments to opposition). The plan following Gaddafi's death was to immediately begin flowing humanitarian assistance to eastern Libya and later western Libya, as the symbolism would be critically important. US sources stressed it as important that they would "not allow Turkey, Italy and others to steal a march on it".[49]

Numerous organizations, including the United Nations and the U.S. and UK governments, have called for an investigation of the exact circumstances of Gaddafi's death,[54] amid controversy that it was an extrajudicial killing and a war crime.[55][56] The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, had said there should be a full investigation.[57]

The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson said that he expects the UN commission already investigating potential human rights abuse in Libya would look into the case.[51] Waheed Burshan, a member of the NTC, said that an investigation should happen.[58]

On 24 October 2011, the NTC announced that it had ordered an investigation in response to the international calls[34] and that it would prosecute the killers if the investigation showed he died after his capture.[59] Almost a year later, on 17 October 2012, new evidence was revealed by Human Rights Watch showing that mass killings occurred at the site of Gaddafi's death.[60]

In its immediate aftermath, the controversial killing of Gaddafi was thought to have significant implications in the Middle East, as a critical part of the wider 'Arab Spring'.[61][62] Former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel speculated that the death would intensify protesting in Syria and Yemen, and French officials stated that because of this they were "watching the Algerian situation".[63]

Omran Shaban, the Misrata fighter who discovered Gaddafi in the drain pipe and who had posed in photos with his golden gun, was captured by Green Resistance soldiers in Bani Walid. He was then paralysed and severely tortured. The interim president of Libya secured his release but he died some days later from his wounds in France.[64][65]

About a year after Gaddafi's death, the former head of foreign relations from the NTC, Rami el-Obeidi, alleged that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered Gaddafi's phone number to French intelligence, which ultimately led Gaddafi to be tracked and later killed. He says that "[i]n exchange for this information, Assad had obtained a promise of a grace period from the French and less political pressure on the regime – which is what happened".[66] However, The Telegraph, who originally reported the story, could not verify Obeidi's allegations.[66] Furthermore, French defence analyst and former intelligence officer, Eric Dénécé, referred to Obeidi's allegations as "patent nonsense", citing the fact that "in November 2011 France’s stance towards Syria actually toughened, with Paris being the first country to recognise the rebel Syrian National Council".[67] He would also state that "France did not need Syria’s help to track Gaddafi and Assad would certainly not have sold [Gaddafi's] telephone number in such a way."[67] Additionally, Syria strongly rejected any foreign involvement in Libya and was one of the only Arab League member states to vote against a request to the UN for a no-fly zone within Libyan airspace.[68][69][70]

Gaddafi spoke four times since Tripoli fell to Misha'an al-Juburi, an Iraqi politician who owns the Syrian-based Arrai TV.[71]

Immediately after Gaddafi's death, NATO released a statement denying it knew beforehand that Gaddafi was travelling in the convoy it struck. Admiral James G. Stavridis, NATO's top officer, said the death of Gaddafi meant that NATO would likely wind down its operations in Libya.[95] Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, said NATO would "terminate [its] mission in coordination with the United Nations and the National Transitional Council".[83]