@NewsInLibyaNews in Libya
Muammar Gaddafi was killed by revolutionary forces in Libya, but questions are being asked about the manner of his death. Picture: AFP AFP
UPDATE 11.58am: LIBYA'S interim leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has set a two-week target for the country to have a new government and says a commission of inquiry is to probe Muammar Gaddafi's killing.
The calls to investigate whether Gaddafi's death was an extrajudicial killing have come as new footage appears to show the deposed strongman being tortured before being killed.
The video, which was shot on a mobile phone, is the most graphic footage yet of rebels savagely beating the dictator after capturing him in sewer in his hometown of Sirte.
To shouts of "God is great!", and with the sounds of assault rifle fire in the background, the rebels drag Gaddafi across a patch of wasteland and into a truck.
The dictator bleeds heavily from his head as a man then approaches him from behind and stabs him.
There is what seems to be a series of heavy blows and Gaddafi falls to the ground. A man then dangles an automatic weapon over Gaddafi’s head and appears to fires several rounds.
But Gaddafi is still alive and in deep distress as the mob drags him again, in what may become a damaging PR moment for the otherwise celebrated rebel forces.
Gaddafi, now a confused and pitiful figure, bleeds more freely from his head wound and becomes increasingly limp. Another clip shows he is clearly still alive as he is thrown in the back of a truck.
is expected to be buried in an unmarked desert grave today - five days after he was shot dead outside his home town of Sirte.
The dictator's decaying body was finally removed from display to the public in Misrata market last night, amid increasing international focus on the macabre spectacle.
The dictator's decaying body was finally removed from display to the public in Misrata market last night, amid increasing international focus on the macabre spectacle.
Sky News quoted one of the guards at the scene as saying of the viewing, "That's enough. He (Gaddafi) has been causing us as much trouble dead as he did alive."
Gaddafi's body was taken out of the market in a car and transferred to a refrigerated truck, heading for an undisclosed location.
An official said it would be buried in secret today somewhere in the vast Libyan desert, The (London) Times reported. It would be a simple ceremony with Muslim clerics in attendance, the official added.
Members of the Gaddafi tribe have been calling for the body to be returned to his family.
The death of Gaddafi is not the only topic of inquiry being urged by the UN.
While the human rights office welcomed the Gaddafi inquiry, the US also urged Libya to also probe "extremely disturbing" allegations of summary executions of dozens of Gaddafi loyalists.
"We have begun talks (on forming a government), and this matter will not take a month but will be finished within two weeks," the National Transitional Council (NTC) chairman told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi today.
A day after the NTC's declaration of Libya's liberation following Gaddafi's capture and death, Abdel Jalil also said a commission of inquiry is being set up to probe the controversial killing of the fallen strongman.
"In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi's death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured," Abdel Jalil said.
The UN human rights office welcomed the announcement of a commission of inquiry.
"We stress the need to ensure that due process is followed, in accordance with international law, in the treatment of all detainees," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
After having raised concern in the West by stressing on Sunday that the new Libya will be governed in line with Islamic sharia law, the NTC chief gave assurances his country would remain a "moderate" Muslim country.
"I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are Muslims but moderate Muslims," he said.
The French foreign ministry said Paris will keep a watch over Libya's respect for human rights after the promise of a system of sharia to run post-Gaddafi Libya.
"We will be watchful of respect for human rights and democratic principles, notably cultural and religious diversity and the equality of men and women to which France is unswervingly attached," ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
And EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the introduction of sharia must respect human rights, while the US State Department called on the new Libya to respect the rights of women.
Human Right Watch, meanwhile, urged the NTC to probe the killing of 53 people whose decaying bodies were found in Sirte, where the pro-Gaddafi camp put up its final stand.
"We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently Gaddafi supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte," said Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch, who investigated the killings.
"Some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot."
The US State Department urged Libya to probe the "extremely disturbing" report.
The head of operations in Libya for NATO, which has said it will wind down its seven-month mission by October 31, meanwhile, said the country was now "essentially" free from threat of attack by Gaddafi loyalists.
"All areas have been freed," Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard said at a video news conference from the operation's Naples operational headquarters. "The threat of Gaddafi remnants is essentially gone."
