End of an era as Gaddafi killed

Al Jazeera/Al Arabiya

SIRTE (Libya), Oct 20: Abdul Hakim Belhaj, an NTC military chief, has confirmed that Muammar Gaddafi has died of his wounds after being captured near Sirte. ANOTHER TYRANT IS DEAD ... Gaddafi's dead body is shown above in a still image from a video feed, after being reportedly killed in his hometown of Sirte The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official said. "Gaddafi's body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters. Earlier, Jamal abu-Shaalah, a field commander of NTC, told Al Jazeera that the toppled leader had been caught. "He's captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance," Abdel Majid, a senior NTC military official said. A photograph taken on a mobile phone appeared to show Gaddafi heavily bloodied, but it was not possible to confirm the authenticity of the picture. The news came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown, after weeks of fighting. Former spokesman captured Another NTC commander said that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Gaddafi's fallen government, was captured near Sirte. Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the 11th brigade, also said he had seen the body of the chief of Gaddafi's armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr. "I've seen him with my own eyes," he said and showed Reuters a picture of Jabr's body. "Moussa Ibrahim was also captured and both of them were transferred to [our] operations room." NATO and the US state department said they could not confirm any reports. Meanwhile in Benghazi, crowds gathered in the streets to start celebrating the reports of Gaddafi's death.