Thursday 20 October 2011

Libya live: Muammar Gaddafi 'killed' as Sirte falls

Live rolling coverage from Libya as rebels claim to have killed ousted dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, following the fall of his stronghold Sirte.

Colonel Gaddafi Photo: REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

3:02PM BST 20 Oct 2011

This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off

• Colonel Gaddafi reported killed in Sirte - senior NTC official
• Photo released purports to show Gaddafi 'badly injured'
• Gaddafi's son Mutassim dead - NTC commander
• Rebels converge on centre of Sirte to celebrate
• Rebels hoist new national flag over captured holdout

Latest

15:40 Libyan charge d'affair Mahmoud al-Naku is speaking outside the Libyan Embassy iin London, he says:

A black era has come to an end forever, the Libyan people are looking forward to a promising future where they finally start building their free democractic state for which they have fought for for eight months now. Our people have paid a high price, about 40,000 martyrs have given their lives. We appreciate the help of the international community to get rid of Gaddafi and his crimes. It is not important whether he faces trial or whether he is alive or dead.

I can confirm he is dead, and now the NTC will move him to Misrata, where he killed many people. His end is in Misrata. They have captured between 17 and 20 of his senior supporters.

15:38 Channel 4 News's Jonathan Rugman is reporting that Gaddafi's son Saif has been killed:

@jrug Whitehall source: Seif al-Islam Gaddafi (once his father's heir apparent) believed killed in NATO airstrike near Bani Walid a few days ago.

15:35 Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, did not go so far has to confirm his death, but has said: "If they [the NTC] know that he is no longer a threat to them I think that will actually ease the transition process to a new government."

15:33 Al-Jazeera Arabic reporting Gaddafi's corpse is now in a mosque in Misrata.

15:32 Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril confirms Gaddafi has been killed. He told a news conference in the capital Tripoli: "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Moammar Gadhafi has been killed."

15:30 WARNING: GRAPHIC: Video claiming to show the body of Colonel Gaddafi being kicked through the streets after reportedly being killed by revolutionary forces:

15:25 Al-Jazeera Arabic are running this photo which purports to show the dead body of Abu Bakar Yunis, Gaddafi's military chief who was reportedly killed in a strike today in SIrte.

15:22 Latest from the NTC: "They after taking Gaddafi's body to Misrata. The NTC will make a statement giving details of his death," says information minister Mahmoud Shammam.

15:15 Senior British Government sources have told the Telegraph's Security Correspondent Duncan Gardham that they believe Gaddafi is dead.

15:13 Sky News has translated the graffiti on the drain where Gaddafi was reportedly found. It says:

"This is the place where the rat Gaddafi was hiding", and: "Contemptible Gaddafi"

15:07 The clearest photo so far to emerge has been released by news agency Reuters, which purports to show Gaddafi heavily wounded after being shot by revolutionary fighters

15:05 Revolutionary forces can be seen chanting: "We did it! We did it!" as they become overcome with emotion, exchanging well-wishes, hugs and handshakes against a backdrop of intense celebratory gunfire.

"We finished Kadhafi and his people," shouts fighter Ali Urfulli. "We have taken revenge. Let him go to hell."

15:02 Senior US Senator John McCain has that the death of Gaddafi marks the end of "the first phase" of Libya's revolution and called for closer ties between Washington and Tripoli.

"The death of Moamer Kadhafi marks an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution. While some final fighting continues, the Libyan people have liberated their country," the Republican lawmaker said in a statement.

14:50 Here is the latest photo purporting to show a dead or injured Gaddafi, obtained by Al-Jazeera.

14:44 Pan-Arab TV station Al-Arabiya cites a Libyan military leader saying several images of Gaddafi will be "broadcast shortly".

14:43 Government fighters in Sirte hold what they claim to be the gold-plated gun belonging to Col Gaddafi (reported at 13:02) The picture is reminicent of those which showed rebel forces posing with war booty from his compound in Tripoli a few months earlier.

14:34 Let's recap all reports of deaths and captures. Just to be clear, none have yet been independently verified:

Muammar Gaddafi: Dead - NTC officials

Mutassim Gaddafi, Col Gaddafi's fifth son: Dead - NTC officials

Moussa Ibrahim, Gaddafi's spokesman: Captured - NTC officials

Abu Bakr Yunis, former defence minister: Killed in Gaddafi's convoy - NTC officials

Ahmed Ibrahim, Gaddafi's cousin and adviser: Captured. - Mlegta.

Mansour Daw, Gaddafi aide: Captured. - Libya TV

14:33 Sky News is reporting that his best-known son, Saif, who was wrongly reported as captured earlier in the year, is still at large in the southern Libyan desert.

14:28 Mutassim, the fifth son of Gaddafi and a former Libyan Army officer, has been found dead in Sirte, according to NTC commander on AFP.

14:26 Here is the last recorded appearance of Gaddafi, who was seen on state TV playing chess:

14:25 Libyan NTC military official confirms photo of apparently dead man shown on TV networks was that of Muammar Gaddafi.

14:20 Our Middle East correspondent Richard Spencer says Al-Hurra TV (Freedom TV), the TV station set up in Qatar by rebels early on in the uprising, is reporting that the former Libyan leader's son Mutassim Gaddafi has been captured in Sirte.

It wouldn't be the first time that he has been reported taken, so it is worth being cautious. But rebels always said he was there, and it would make sense. Mutassim was the rival to Saif al-Islam as a future successor to his father, and was his National Security Adviser. A photo of him meeting Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, a couple of years back was among the more memorable images of the Mafia-like appearances the family liked to don.

14:15 Our reporter in Sirte, Ben Farmer, is thought to be the only Western newspaper journalist who has been to the site Gaddafi was said to have been captured, has this new detail:

Colonel Gaddafi was finally cornered in a drain underneath a road in open countryside to the west of the city of Sirte. Rebels said a column of vehicles tried to punch out of an encirclement at dawn. They parked up around 3-4kms west of the town, which was hit by a NATO airstrike. Gaddafi and several bodyguards were then forced to take refuge in the drain where they were then captured and taken away by revolutionary forces.

^{The underground drain where Gaddafi is believed to have been discovered.
- AFP}

14:03 NTC spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga says: "We announce to the world that Kadhafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution. It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Kadhafi has met his fate," he added.

14:00 PM David Cameron to give statement on reports of Gaddafi's death imminently.

13:57 The revolutionary fighter who says he saw the capture of Gaddafi tells Sky News he hit him with his shoe (one of the worst insults in the Islamic faith). He was reportedly shot once in the head and once in each leg.

13:54 NTC spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga also now confirming the former leader's death.

13:52 If reports are found to be true that Gaddafi was found in a hole underground in District 2 in his hometown of Sirte, the similarities to the capture of Saddam Hussein are unavoidable. The Iraqi dictator was discovered in a small, underground hole concealed next to farm buildings near the his own hometown of Tikrit. He had been hiding out for months with a handful of his most loyal aides.

13:47 If Gaddafi is dead, that solves the problem of the trial – but we may never learn the truth about Lockerbie and other crimes, writes Telegraph commentator Daniel Knowles:

If the reports of Gaddafi's death are true (and they may not be: the US cannot even confirm his capture yet), it will make some things easier between the Libyans and their Western allies. It solves the problem of where he will be tried, and by whom. If he is still alive, we have months of wrangling and undignified negotiation yet to come, and – notwithstanding the assurances above – the prospect of a Saddam Hussein-style show trial. On the other hand, if he is alive we also stand a greater chance of finally establishing the truth about Lockerbie, the killing of WPc Yvonne Fletcher and many other crimes. Either way, the end of this man's brutal dictatorship has arrived, and not before time.

13:44 Official confirmation from NATO on an attack by their aircraft on a pro-Gaddafi this morning: "At approximately 0830 local time (GMT+2) today, NATO aircraft struck two pro-Kadhafi forces military vehicles which were part of a larger group manoeuvring in the vicinity of Sirte," spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie said in a statement.

13:38 Telegraph Middle East correspondent Richard Spencer says if the reports are true, Col Gaddafi has at least been true to his word: he always said he would die on Libyan soil.

Credit where credit is due: Gaddafi had chutzpah, as we knew, and showed it by placing himself like Napoleon at Waterloo at the heart of the final battle. He also had courage - a mad courage, perhaps, but it must have taken something for a 27-year-old to seize power for himself back in 1969 and he did not flinch at the end.

On the other hand, Gaddafi was also wrong about one thing. Like many dictators, he reassured himself, when he was under attack from western democratic leaders, that the political system they promoted ensured their own political demise. Whatever they said about him didn't matter since their electors would kick them out shortly anyway.

13:37 NTC official Mohamed Abel Kafi tells Reuters the body of Gaddafi is now being taken to a secret location in Misrata for security reasons. Again, not independently confirmed.

13:27 The following photograph purports to show Muammer Gaddafi badly wounded and has been obtained by AFP news agency. The image has been captured off a mobile phone camera by French photographer Philippe Desmazes for Getty.

13:26 Gaddafi's killing came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, Reuters reports:

He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head. There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.

13:25 A senior Obama administration official has said that US authorities were trying to confirm whether the deposed Libyan leader had been killed or captured.

13:18 Former state TV channel Al-Libiya has just run a broadcast which outright denied reports of the despot's death: "The reports peddled by the lackeys of NATO about the capture or death of the brother leader, Moamer Kadhafi, are baseless. Gaddafi is in good health."

13.14 Read a profile of the 'Mad Dog' dictator, who was reportedly killed in Sirte today:

Branded "mad dog" by Ronald Reagan, the outlandish antics, flamboyant dress and bombastic pronouncements of the self-styled "Brother Leader" at times made him seem a figure of ridicule.

During his travels abroad he was accompanied by a blonde Ukrainian nurse and insisted on staying in his Bedouin tent, protected by his team of glamorous, gun-toting female bodyguards.

13:12 NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta has told Reuters that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn this morning as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.

"He was also hit in his head," the official said. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."

13:11 NTC Leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil is due to address the Libyan nation "shortly", according to Free Libya TV station.

13:07 The Telegraph's foreign correspondent, Ben Farmer - the only UK newspaper journalist in Sirte, describes the celebrations among NTC soldiers as the final Gaddafi stronghold is taken.

13:02 A soldier who said he captured Gaddafi himself has told a BBC the colonel shouted "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" after he was discovered hiding in a hole in District 2 in Sirte. The soldier reportedly brandished Gaddafi's golden pistol after his capture.

12:58 Here is a timeline of the Libyan uprising, from the arrest of human rights activist Fethi Tarbel starting a riot in Benghazi on Feb 15 through to reports today that Gaddafi has been killed after Sirte was liberated.

12:56 A pro-Gaddafi television website denied reports that the strongman had been killed or captured. Al-Libiya television website said:

The reports peddled by the lackeys of Nato about the capture or death of the brother leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is baseless.

12:53 Reuters reporting Gaddafi dies of wounds suffered in capture near Sirte - senior NTC military official.

12:51 According to a Libyan commander, Gaddafi's mouthpiece and face of the regime Moussa Ibrahim, has also been captured.

12:49 Ben Farmer in Sirte reports:

Scenes of wild jubilation in the centre of Sirte at news that Gaddafi has been captured. People are firing in the air.

Gaddafi is reportedly being taken to Misurata in a convoy. Abu Bakr Yunis, defence minister has apparently been killed and Gaddafi's chief of security forces since the start of the uprising has been badly wounded.

12:48 Libyan revolutionary forces aren't waiting for confirmation of Gaddafi's capture before they start celebrating in Sirte following the fall of the city:

12:48 Russian Presidet Medvedev has said "Gaddafi's fate should be decided by Libyan people."

12:50 Pro-Gaddafi TV channels denying the leader's death.

12:45 Non-NTC sources have confirmed to Sky News that Gaddafi has been captured and still alive, but in a critical condition.

12:41 Al Arabiya sources saying the "dead body of Gaddafi" is being taken to Misurata by revoluntionary forces. It is important to remember, all reports so far are not confirmed independently, and deaths of members of the former leader's family have previously been wrong.

12:35 A Libyan government fighter is being quoted by Reuters as saying Gaddafi was found hiding in a hole in Sirte, shouting "Don't shoot, don't shoot".

12:35 There are wild scenes of celebration in Sirte, however, no independent confirmation has yet been given.

12:30 NTC sources who claim to have seen the wounded Gaddafi say he was captured wearing a Khaki uniform and a turban.

12:28 If the rumours are true, it would confirm the theory that Gaddafi has been hiding out near his hometown of Sirte for the last few weeks even as fighting intensified in the battle to take the city.

12:27 Sky News reporting that the former leader of Libya has been taken by revoluntionary forces and wounded in both legs.

12:25 Foreign news agency AFP are also reporting that Gaddafi has been captured, according to the an NTC commander and Libya TV.

^{Libyan fighters celebrate on the streets of Sirte}

12:06 Reports that Gaddafi's defence minister Abu Bakr Yunis has been killed.

11:20 Ben Farmer on the scenes of celebration in the centre of Sirte:

Civilians, whose city has been under siege since Gaddafi was removed from power at the end of August, were making their way to the centre to celebrate. The Telegraph, witnessing scenes in the centre of the city siad there were scens of relief, jubilation and intense celebratory gunfire among National Transitional Council (NTC) forces.

The new national flag was raised above a large utilities building in the Mediterranean city, which had been under siege for nearly two months.

11:00 Col Yunus Al Abdali, head of operations in the eastern half of the city says:

Sirte has been liberated. There are no Gaddafi forces any more.

We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away.

10:45 Ben Farmer, who is in the centre of Sirte reports:

In the early hours of the morning, at least five cars carrying loyalist fighters attempted to escape the city, but most were rounded up and killed by revolutionaries.

Libyan rebels then moved into the city's Number Two residential neighbourhood, which was the last pocket of pro-Gaddafi resistance left in the war-torn country.

10:30 (11.30 Libya) Welcome to our live coverage of the fall of the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte

Past Libya live coverage