There was no immediate confirmation of the death from independent sources, and conflicting reports circulated that he had been captured or wounded.
Moammar Gaddafi has been captured by rebel forces, according to an official of the Transitional National Council of Libya. (Oct. 20)
Abdelhakim Belhadj, the military chief of the governing Transitional National Council, told the al-Jazeera satellite network that Gaddafi had been killed.
Libyan TV station al-Ahrar also reported that Gaddafi was killed in the fighting but did not cite a source.
However, other officials said Gaddafi was seized by revolutionary fighters. News agencies distributed a cellphone photo purporting to show a bloodied Gaddafi in the custody of fighters, but it was not clear from the image whether he was alive or dead.
“He’s captured. We don’t know if he’s dead or not,” Ibrahim Mohammed Shirkasiya, a senior security official in Misurata, the biggest city west of Sirte, said by telephone. He said his information came from revolutionary commanders in Sirte.
Celebrations erupted in Sirte and in other parts of the country as word spread of the fall of the city and the possible capture or slaying of Gaddafi.
In Tripoli, hundreds of cars honked their horns, and the air was filled with celebratory gunfire from automatic rifles and heavy weapons.
Gaddafi’s death, if confirmed, would ease fears that he could still rally his forces to launch a stealth guerrilla campaign against the revolutionary government. Gaddafi ruled with an iron fist for 42 years, brooking no opposition and establishing a cult of personality.
Sirte was a key prize because it was the last holdout of the Gaddafi forces and sits astride a key coastal highway about midway between Tripoli and Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi, the rebels’ former de facto capital. In addition, the interim government had held off on declaring the war over until the city fell.
“This is the watershed moment,” said political analyst Peter Cole, in Tripoli. “It’s a significant moment. We’ve been in political no-man’s-land until Sirte fell.”
A senior official with the Transitional National Council told Reuters that Gaddafi was wounded in both legs and captured while trying to flee Sirte, his birthplace, in a convoy that was struck by NATO warplanes.
The Misurata Military Council, one of multiple command groups for revolutionary forces, says its fighters captured Gaddafi in Sirte, the Associated Press reported. Another commander, Abdel-Basit Haroun, said Gaddafi was killed when an airstrike hit his convoy.
Gaddafi was driven from power in Tripoli in August, and his whereabouts had remained a mystery.
U.S. and NATO officials said they could not ascertain the ousted leader’s fate or determine whether he was in the convoy that was struck.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. local time Thursday, “NATO aircraft struck two pro-Gaddafi forces military vehicles which were part of a larger group maneuvering in the vicinity of Sirte,” NATO said in a statement. “These armed vehicles were conducting military operations and presented a clear threat to civilians.”
On Thursday, the official said, “we saw a convoy coming out. It was tracked by NATO. There was a limited amount of engagement.” The official said that forces under control of the Libyan Transitional National Council had also surrounded the area and were engaged in heavy exchanges of gunfire with the convoy.
“We’ve seen nothing coming out of that particular pocket” of Sirte “until today, so it was unusual,” the official said. The official described what had come under attack as not a single convoy, but “a number of different packets of vehicles attempting to break through.”
Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the Transitional National Council, told the BBC: “We cannot confirm that any Gaddafi officials have been captured.”
He said that on Thursday, “suddenly our people were able to storm Sirte and control it in a few hours.”
Libya’s state television station reported that Gaddafi had been killed, and that his son Mutassim and top intelligence aide Abdullah Senoussi had been captured and brought to Misurata. A news anchor wrapped in a tricolor Libyan flag delivered the news.
NATO’s military activity had tapered to nearly nothing in recent weeks, as tight urban combat in Sirte was not appropriate for alliance airstrikes. Instead, tough street fighting had some Libyans worried about the beginnings of an insurgency.
Birnbaum reported from Berlin. Staff writer William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
Rumors, photo claims Gaddafi wounded and captured, but all unconfirmed
The final stronghold of Moammar Gaddafi loyalists fell to the Libyan fighters Thursday, and Libyan state television reported that the ousted leader had been captured and killed.
Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte. (Esam Al-Fetori /Reuters)
The news came two months after Libyan rebels captured the capital of Tripoli. There was no immediate confirmation of the death from independent sources.
“He’s captured. We don’t know if he’s dead or not,” Ibrahim Mohammed Shirkasiya, a senior security official in Misurata, the biggest city west of Sirte, told The Post’s Mary Beth Sheridan by telephone. He said his information came from revolutionary commanders in Sirte.
Libyan TV station Al-Ahrar reported that Gaddafi had been killed in the fighting, but didn’t cite a source. Transitional National Council member Jamal abu-Shaalah quoted in al-Jazeera and Abdel Majid, a council official quoted by the Reuters news agency both said he had been killed.
(Watch live video here.)
Twitter erupted with the news, with six of its top ten trending topics focusing on Libya. People began passing around an image that appears to have been taken by a cell phone and shows a bloodied Gaddafi.
AFP and Getty Images pushed out this photograph saying it was an image captured off a cellular phone camera showing the arrest of Libya's strongman Moammar Gaddafi. (Screengrab from Twitter)
Reuters reports that Gaddafi was fleeing the city in a convoy when NATO warplanes attacked.
“We’ve had no confirmation whether Gaddafi was in there or not,” said a NATO official who spoke to The Post’s Michael Birnbaum on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly. Over the past couple weeks in Sirte, the official said, “there was a sense that given the fight they were putting up, which was concerted, that they were protecting something important.”
Thursday, the official said, “we saw a convoy coming out. It was tracked by NATO. There was a limited amount of engagement.” The official said that forces under control of the Libyan National Transitional Council had also surrounded the area and were engaged in heavy exchanges of gunfire with the convoy.
“We’ve seen nothing coming out of that particular pocket” of Sirte “until today, so it was unusual,” the official said. The official described what had come under attack as not a single convoy, but “a number of different packets of vehicles attempting to break through.”
Gaddafi has proved elusive during the fighting and has not been seen since Tripoli fell. There have been a number of reports in the past that he was captured or near capture. Former U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley wrote on Twitter that Gaddafi’s death, if confirmed, would “help Libya avoid a lengthy and destructive insurgency.”
Libyan officials previously had said they believed Gaddafi to be hiding somewhere in the vast southwestern desert. Sirte is on the northern coast of the country. Reuters reported that the U.S. State Department could not confirm the capture of Gaddafi.
What is confirmed, though, is that Libyan fighters are raucously celebrating the fall of Sirte. The Associated Press reports:
“In the central quarter where the final battle took place, the fighters looking like the same ragtag force that started the uprising eight months ago jumped up and down with joy and flashed V-for-victory signs. Some burned the green Gaddafi flag, then stepped on it with their boots.
“They chanted ‘Allah akbar,’ or ‘God is great’ in Arabic, while one fighter climbed a traffic light pole to unfurl the revolution’s flag, which he first kissed. Discarded military uniforms of Gaddafi’s fighters littered the streets. One revolutionary fighter waved a silver trophy in the air while another held up a box of firecrackers, then set them off.”
More reading from the Washington Post
World: The Rise and Fall of Moammar Gaddafi
World: Gaddafi’s home overrun
Video: Libyan fighters celebrate fall of Sirte
By | 07:58 AM ET, 10/20/2011Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte. (Esam Al-Fetori /Reuters)
The news came two months after Libyan rebels captured the capital of Tripoli. There was no immediate confirmation of the death from independent sources.
“He’s captured. We don’t know if he’s dead or not,” Ibrahim Mohammed Shirkasiya, a senior security official in Misurata, the biggest city west of Sirte, told The Post’s Mary Beth Sheridan by telephone. He said his information came from revolutionary commanders in Sirte.
Libyan TV station Al-Ahrar reported that Gaddafi had been killed in the fighting, but didn’t cite a source. Transitional National Council member Jamal abu-Shaalah quoted in al-Jazeera and Abdel Majid, a council official quoted by the Reuters news agency both said he had been killed.
(Watch live video here.)
Twitter erupted with the news, with six of its top ten trending topics focusing on Libya. People began passing around an image that appears to have been taken by a cell phone and shows a bloodied Gaddafi.
AFP and Getty Images pushed out this photograph saying it was an image captured off a cellular phone camera showing the arrest of Libya's strongman Moammar Gaddafi. (Screengrab from Twitter)
Reuters reports that Gaddafi was fleeing the city in a convoy when NATO warplanes attacked.
“We’ve had no confirmation whether Gaddafi was in there or not,” said a NATO official who spoke to The Post’s Michael Birnbaum on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly. Over the past couple weeks in Sirte, the official said, “there was a sense that given the fight they were putting up, which was concerted, that they were protecting something important.”
Thursday, the official said, “we saw a convoy coming out. It was tracked by NATO. There was a limited amount of engagement.” The official said that forces under control of the Libyan National Transitional Council had also surrounded the area and were engaged in heavy exchanges of gunfire with the convoy.
“We’ve seen nothing coming out of that particular pocket” of Sirte “until today, so it was unusual,” the official said. The official described what had come under attack as not a single convoy, but “a number of different packets of vehicles attempting to break through.”
Gaddafi has proved elusive during the fighting and has not been seen since Tripoli fell. There have been a number of reports in the past that he was captured or near capture. Former U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley wrote on Twitter that Gaddafi’s death, if confirmed, would “help Libya avoid a lengthy and destructive insurgency.”
Libyan officials previously had said they believed Gaddafi to be hiding somewhere in the vast southwestern desert. Sirte is on the northern coast of the country. Reuters reported that the U.S. State Department could not confirm the capture of Gaddafi.
What is confirmed, though, is that Libyan fighters are raucously celebrating the fall of Sirte. The Associated Press reports:
“In the central quarter where the final battle took place, the fighters looking like the same ragtag force that started the uprising eight months ago jumped up and down with joy and flashed V-for-victory signs. Some burned the green Gaddafi flag, then stepped on it with their boots.
“They chanted ‘Allah akbar,’ or ‘God is great’ in Arabic, while one fighter climbed a traffic light pole to unfurl the revolution’s flag, which he first kissed. Discarded military uniforms of Gaddafi’s fighters littered the streets. One revolutionary fighter waved a silver trophy in the air while another held up a box of firecrackers, then set them off.”
More reading from the Washington Post
World: The Rise and Fall of Moammar Gaddafi
World: Gaddafi’s home overrun
Video: Libyan fighters celebrate fall of Sirte
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/sirte-fall-rumors-swirl-of-gaddafi-capture-but-all-unconfirmed/2011/10/20/gIQA5wM7zL_blog.html?hpid=z1
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