Moammar Gadhafi dead, Libyan PM says
Libya Highlights: Col. Moammar Gadhafi dead1:12
Gadhafi: 1942-20113:06
GRAPHIC Gadhafi death video0:57"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Moammar Gadhafi has been killed," Jibril said during a press conference in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.
Jibril said the official liberation of Libya could be declared Thursday, or Friday at the latest, by transitional government chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
Al-Jazeera has aired images it says are of a wounded and bleeding Gadhafi after his capture. It later aired footage it says is Gadhafi, after his death. CBC News could not verify the authenticity of the images.
Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam said: "Our people in Sirte saw the body."
Ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed in Sirte on Oct. 20, Libya's National Transitional Council said. Here, revolutionary fighters celebrate the news of his demise. (Manu Brabo/AP)
The body of Gadhafi is reported to have been taken to the city of Misrata, which was besieged for months by Gadhafi loyalists. Al-Arabiya TV aired video of the body being carried on a vehicle surrounded by chanting crowds.
"The blood of the martyrs will not go in vain," the crowd shouted.
World reacts
Prime Minister Stephen Harper heralded the day's developments, saying Gadhafi will "never again be in a position to support terrorism or to allow others to fire on his own citizens.""The people of Libya can finally turn the page after 42 years of a chapter of terrible oppression, and it can now seek a better future," he said from the foyer of the House of Commons.
Harper said he would speak within days with the country's allies about ending the military mission to support the Libyan forces who rose up against Gadhafi.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the death of Gadhafi marks a "historic transition" for Libya.
"Combatants on all sides must lay down their arms in peace, he said. "This is the time for healing and rebuilding — for generosity of spirit, not for revenge."
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said the people in Libya now have an even greater chance of building a strong and democratic future.
"I'm proud of the role that Britain has played to help them to bring that about, and I pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who helped to liberate their country," Cameron said. "We will help them and we will work with them."
Abubaker Karmos, the Libyan chargé d'affaires in Ottawa, called it a great day that the Libyan people have been waiting on for a long time.
"It marks the end of a ruthless dictatorship and tyranny. And hopefully it will mark the day of the new Libya that all the Libyan people want," Karmos said.
Last bastion
Reports of Gadhafi's end came as Sirte, the last pocket of resistance by fighters loyal to him, fell to revolutionary forces on Thursday followed a final 90-minute battle.A NATO spokesman said NATO aircraft struck two pro-Gadhafi forces military vehicles Thursday morning. The vehicles were part of a larger convoy moving in the Sirte area, the statement said. The statement does not provide any detail on whether Gadhafi was in the convoy.
Anti-Gadhafi fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte. Libyan interim government fighters captured Moammar Gadhafi's home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month siege. Esam Al-Fetori/Reuters
France's defence minister later said the fighter jet that attacked the convoy was French. Gerard Longuet told reporters in Paris that Libyan gunmen on the ground then intercepted the vehicles, which included one carrying Gadhafi.
Following initial reports of the deposed leader's capture, NTC fighters rejoiced in the streets of Sirte. They cheered and fired rounds of ammunition into the air.
Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya reported that Mo'tassim Gadhafi, a son of the deposed leader, was captured alive in Sirte, although Reuters later reported that he had been killed by NTC fighters. Another son, Saif al-Islam, was reported to be surrounded by NTC fighters after he tried to flee Sirte.
Killed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi -- known for his sartorial flair -- celebrates the 40th anniversary of the evacuation of U.S. military bases. (Ismail Zetouny/Reuters)
"You can hear the horns of the cars," Sarrar said. "People are very, very, very happy with this kind of news."
Months of struggle
Protests against Gadhafi, who has ruled the North African nation since 1969, began in February, part of a wave of protests in the Arab world.Gadhafi urged Libyans to stand with him and battle the revolutionary forces, who organized their assault from the eastern city of Benghazi.
For months, rebel fighters clashed with Gadhafi loyalists, with each side struggling to gain ground in the drawn-out battle.
In March, the UN Security Council authorized a mission to protect civilians against Gadhafi's forces, which included a no-fly zone and airstrikes. Canada joined the effort, sending equipment and military staff to a base in Italy.
The international community made other moves against the longtime leader, including freezing family assets and issuing an international arrest warrant for Gadhafi and some of his key advisers, including his son Seif al-Islam.
Even as the international community moved against him, the longtime Libyan leader vowed to fight on, issuing audio recordings urging his supporters to take on the fighters seeking to oust him from power.
In late August, after months of fighting, rebel forces swept into the capital, eventually taking control of the city.
Not long after the seizure of Tripoli, Gadhafi's wife and some of his children fled to neighbouring Algeria. Gadhafi's whereabouts were still not known, but the defiant former ruler issued another audio recording to supporters in September, urging them to keep fighting.
Gadhafi's whereabouts were not known, but the interim government continued the fight, trying to drive Gadhafi supporters out of his few remaining strongholds — including his hometown of Sirte.
No comments:
Post a Comment