Dictator For 42yrs Killed As He Fled Hometown
Sirte (Libya): Muammar Gaddafi called the rebels who rose against his 42-year rule “rats” and vowed to hunt them down “alley by alley”, but in the end it was he who was captured cowering in a drainpipe full of rubbish in his hometown.
Government fighters, video evidence and the scenes of sheer carnage nearby told the story of the dictator’s final hours, although different reports cite a gunbattle, a Nato raid, even murder by Gaddafi’s
own guard. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot” were the last words of the 69-year-old dictator, as he emerged from the drain to face a group of rebel fighters.
Shortly before dawn prayers on Thursday, the 69-year-old dictator, surrounded by a few dozen loyal bodyguards and accompanied by the head of his now non-existent army Abu Bakr Younis Jabr broke out of the two-month siege of Sirte and made a break for the west. But they did not get far.
Nato said its aircraft struck military vehicles belonging to pro-Gaddafi forces near Sirte around 8.30am, but the alliance said it was unsure whether the strikes had killed Gaddafi. Fifteen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns lay burnt out. Some 50 bodies in all. Gaddafi and a few of his men appeared to have escaped and hid in the two drainage pipes.
But a group of government fighters were on their tail. “One of Gaddafi’s men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting surrender, but as soon as he saw me, he started shooting,” said one, Salem Bakeer. “Then I think Gaddafi must have told them to stop. ‘My master is here, my master is here’, he said, ‘Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded’,” said Bakeer. AGENCIES
END OF AN ERROR?
On Thursday morning, 5 cars with Gaddafi and his loyalist fighters try to flee Sirte, which is under attack
Nato planes attack convoy. Gaddafi injured, his armed forces chief Abu Bakr killed in capture
Rebels find Gaddafi, 69, cowering in a drain. Shouts, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot” as he surrenders.
Reports say he was severely beaten and then shot several times all over the body, including legs stomach and head
FALLEN ARAB TYRANTS
Dec 13, 2003 | Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein captured by US troops. On Dec 30, ’06 hanged after summary trial
Jan 14, 2011 | Zine el Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia flees after 23 yrs in power
Feb 11 | Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak quits after 18 days of protests
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We went in and brought Gaddafi out. He was saying ‘what’s wrong, what’s wrong’. Then we took him and put him in the car,” NTC fighter Salim Bakeer said. At the time of capture, Gaddafi was already wounded with gunshots to his leg and to his back, Bakeer said.
Other government fighters who said they took part in the capture, separately confirmed Bakeer’s version of events, though one said Gaddafi was shot and wounded at the last minute by one of his own men. “One of Muammar Gaddafi’s guards shot him in the chest,” said Omran Jouma Shawan.
Gaddafi’s army chief Abu Bakr Younis Jabr was also captured alive, Bakeer said. Libya’s National Transitional Council officials later announced he was dead.
Video footage showed Gaddafi, dazed and wounded, but still clearly alive and gesturing with his hands as he was dragged from a pick-up truck by a crowd of angry jostling group of government soldiers who hit him and pulled his hair.
He then appeared to fall to the ground and was enveloped by the crowd.
NTC officials later announced Gaddafi had died of his wounds after capture. AGENCIES
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