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MUAMMAR GADDAFI’S BLOOD-streaked body was stashed in a commercial freezer at a shopping centre today as Libyans tried to keep it out of the public eye and away from crowds.
An Associated Press correspondent saw the body at the shopping centre in the coastal city of Misrata, home of the fighters who killed the ousted leader a day earlier in his hometown of Sirte.
The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, was laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of an emptied-out room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the centre normally keep perishables. A bullet hole was visible on the left side of his head – with the bullet still lodged in his head, according to the presiding doctor – and in the centre of his chest and stomach. His hair was matted and dried blood streaks his arms and head.
Outside the shopping centre, hundreds of civilians from Misrata jostled to get inside for a peek at the body, shouting “God is great” and “We want to see the dog.”
The makeshift provisions for the corpse – at one point it was kept in a private house on Thursday – reflected the disorganisation and confusion that has surrounded Gaddafi’s death.
His burial had been planned for Friday, in accordance with Islamic traditions calling for quick interment. But the interim government delayed it, saying the circumstances of his death still had to be determined. Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam also said authorities are “debating right now what the best place is to bury him.”
Gaddafi was captured wounded but alive, and there have been contradictory accounts of how he received his fatal wounds – raising the question whether he was shot to death while in custody, something Libyan officials have denied.
New images surfaced of the 69-year-old Gaddafi being taunted and beaten by the fighters who captured him. By authorities’ account, at the time the video was taken, Gadhafi would have already suffered the wounds that would kill him about a half-hour later – shots to the head, chest and belly. In the video, there is blood on Gadhafi’s head, but none visible on his chest or belly, and he is talking and standing up.
International rights groups have called for an investigation into his death.
“More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling the images of Gaddafi’s last moments very disturbing.
Gaddafi’s body in the commercial freezer where it is being kept (Manu Brabo/AP/Press Association Images)
One of Gaddafi’s sons, Muatassim, was also killed in the Sirte, but the fate of Gaddafi’s one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam was unclear. Some Libyan officials said he had been wounded and was being held in a hospital in Zlitan. But Shammam said Friday that Seif al-Islam’s whereabouts were not confirmed, leaving open the possibility he escaped.
Gaddafi was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed him and his last die-hard loyalists in Sirte, capturing the city after a heavily fought, weeks-long siege. Exact details of his final hours remain unclear.
But according to most accounts from fighters on the ground and their commanders, Gaddafi was in a convoy trying to flee, when NATO airstrikes hit two of the vehicles. Then revolutionary forces moved in and clashed with the loyalists with Gadhafi for several hours. Gaddafi and his bodyguards fled their cars and took refuge in a nearby drainage tunnel. Fighters pursued and clashed with them, and in the end, Gaddafi emerged from tunnel and was grabbed by fighters.
New footage posted on Facebook shows the moments when Gadhafi was dragged by revolutionary fighters up the hill to their vehicles. The young men beat the bloodied and confused-looking Gaddafi, screaming, “Muammar, you dog!”
Gaddafi gestures to the young men to be patient, and says “What’s going on?” as he wipes fresh blood from his temple and glances at his palm. A young fighter later is shown carrying a boot and screaming, “This is Muammar’s shoe! This is Muammar’s shoe! Victory! Victory!”
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I believe Derek is referring to Iceland, the frozen food warehouse where the proles go to consolidate their obesity. I quite enjoyed the reference.
Unbelievable, just unbelievable.
should have gone to Iceland?
Ridiculous, should’ve gone Specsavers? I don’t see the Icelandic reference?
Can you clarify?
Bullshit Derek.
Brave man, Derek. Deleted any posts recently? *note to self* top of the list.
Thanks web the joke wasn’t terrific but watching it go completely over your head was absolutely quality
They go mad for the shoe thing in that part of the world
Epic fail. Clown.
why all the gory photos? he’s dead, we know.
Okay, that’s not weird at all. . . ¬-¬
If you live by the sword….you die by the sword
A true philosopher – best of luck.
But what is weird, is that, we, the civilised world, stood back and allowed ‘the hunt for Gaddafi’ progress to a point where his death was the only satisfactory outcome. A true freedom-fighter has been murdered, and nobody gives a shit. Welcome to the future.
The main party to allowing ‘the hunt for Gaddafi to progress’ was in fact Gaddafi. The West called upon him to give himself up numerous times. He had ample time to surrender, to escape, to negotiate his own transfer to the Hague, but instead he chose to prolong the conflict, causing countless unnecessary casualties. Whether Gaddafi would ever have made it to ICC except under his own steam is a moot question but irrelevant now.
“The main party to allowing ‘the hunt for Gaddafi to progress’ was in
fact Gaddafi.”
Indisputable logic.
It’s called war, people get killed. Get over it.
they should move him up a bit. I find it really annoying when my legs hang off the end of the bed.
It looks suspiciously like one of those mattress sized slabs of cheese that ex-Minister Brendan Smith promised to distribute to the yep unemployed.
There is no dignity in death, is there?
Hope he gets double clubcard points…every little helps..
Well done Libya! First step for freedom and democracy by torturing, executing, gender inequality, injustice etc etc… Very bright days are waiting for you like Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt… Now it’s a great place ti live in Libya with Islamic pressure! for sure the oil companies will enjoy it…
I thought a Muslim had to be buried within 24 hours of death, or is it the case that in death he is being denied that by his captors?
I like my dictators like I like my beef.
Hung for about a week.
suddenly that donegal catch in my fridge isnt so appetizing
Fillet of dictator, already tenderised
Turn the mattress over…..it’ll be grand
Personally I can’t feel good about a human being being lynched no matter what the circumstances. It was inevitable in this case. See the Brits now taking the high moral ground.. Re illegal killing. Not so long ago they executed 3 IRA operatives on Gibralter. It was justified then, why not now?
Indignant end to any life….
His SHOE, HIS SHOE! Let us, like Him, hold up one shoe and let the other be upon our foot, for this is His sign, that all who follow Him shall do likewise, a sign that we must gather shoes together in abundance!
FOLLOW THE GOURD!
Can’t see his legs good but from any picture I have seen the only serious wound he has was the bullet hole on the left side of his head. Maybe this is why they have his head turned to the left?
Yellow pack this coward
Although its not pretty to watch, its war and war is rarely ever pretty to watch. Taking away the fact the I viewed the pictures and video and found them unnerving, I still feel he probably got off lightly. Not ever been involved in a war I find myself not willing to cast judgement on those whose contributed to his death. He’s dead, its done, now I hope the Libyans can pull together and make a better future for themselves.
He was never going to the Hague. He knew that. The dirt he knew on our ever so pious western leaders made sure of that.. They needed him dead. So many naieve people only believe what they are told by the gov influenced corporate media. For example Lockerbie had nothing to do with Libya and everything to do with CIA drug running ..Google Susan Lindauer. Very interesting account of CIA skulduggery. But you wont believe that because you havnt been told it by the press… Time to wise up people. There are alternative sources of information out there.
Good man ed. Is there anything the CIA aren’t behind.
Looks like a pretty comfy mattress, I wonder where they got it !
Remind me not to shop in that supermarket!
Wish We Had Some Oil So The Yanks Could Come In And Sort Out Some Of Our Leaders.
Fair play to Dyno-Rod, sure they were a bit heavy handed but they managed to un clog even the most stubborn piles of shit from that particular sewer pipe.
have your say