Muammar Gaddafi’s will was published on a loyalist website, Seven Day News, as the debate continued over what to do with his body.
Colonel Gaddafi’s will appeared to be a short one and is said to be one of three copies given to relatives, one of whom was killed, one arrested and one managed to escape the fighting in Sirte, where he was killed.
The former Libyan dictator said in his will: “I call on my supporters to continue the resistance, and fight any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always.”
Muammar Gaddafi apparently made it clear he had decided to die in Libya rather than flee, telling his supporters: “Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life.”
“We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honour.”
Gaddafi’s dead body is currently in a refrigerated vegetable warehouse in Misurata where crowds, who suffered some of the worst attacks by dictator’s forces, are queuing to catch site of the dead dictator
The dictator asked to be buried, clothed as he died, with his body unwashed, in a graveyard in his home town of Sirte, not far from where he was killed as he fled the city on Thursday.
Gaddafi’s dead body is currently in a refrigerated vegetable warehouse in Misurata where crowds, who suffered some of the worst attacks by dictator’s forces, are queuing to catch site of the dead dictator.
Muammar Gaddafi also called for his family to be treated “well” adding that the Libyan people should protect their “heroes.”
Reports said that Gaddafi’s body will be handed over to his remaining relatives after tribal leaders backed calls for his corpse to be given a traditional Muslim burial.
Tribal honour underpins much of the country’s public life and the demand will prove to be a big test for the country’s new government because the Gaddafi tribe has benefited enormously from the 42-year dictatorship of the Libyan strongman.
The Libyan new regime will not want an obvious shrine in Sirte, although the National Transitional Council (NTC) indicated Muammar Gaddafi’s surviving relatives would have a say in what happened to his body.
An NTC official, Ahmed Jibril, said:
“The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family is present at this moment.”
“The NTC are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gaddafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC.”
The new Libyan authorities had originally wanted the body to be buried in an unmarked grave in the desert. However, they ran into resistance from the Masrata militias who had captured him and who did not want the responsibility for burying the dead leader.
Muammar Gaddafi’s widow Saifa had issued a statement demanding that the body is turned over to his family.
Muammar Gaddafi’s widow, Safia has backed international demands yesterday for an inquiry into colonel killing.
It appears that rebel fighters executed the wounded Muammar Gaddafi having captured him alive.
Libyan officials of the ruling National Transitional Council were forced to delay Muammar Gaddafi secret burial for further examination of his battered body.
Muammar Gaddafi’s widow, Safia has backed international demands yesterday for an inquiry into colonel killing
A recently released video, which apparently shows the moment that Muammar Gaddafi, 69, was pulled from his hole and led to a jeep, may shed light on how dictator came to be killed.
The new video is a shaky mobile phone footage that shows a dozen of rebels surrounding the bloodied Gaddafi, who is hoarse and barely audible.
Muammar Gaddafi says: “What are you doing? It’s not allowed in Islamic law. What you are doing is forbidden.
“What you’re doing is wrong, guys. Do you know what is right or wrong?”
And the young men are heard screaming: “Muammar, you dog!”.
Muammar 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 rebel fighter later is shown carrying a boot and screaming: “This is Muammar’s shoe! This is Muammar’s shoe! Victory! Victory!”
“Keep him alive, keep him alive!” someone shouts.
Another rebel screams: “God is great. God is omnipotent.”
And as Gaddafi begs for mercy, a fighter says: “Shut up, you dog.”
At that moment gun fire from an automatic-rile is heard and the recording ends. However, there were only signs on his corpse of wounds from handguns and the time of death is understood to have been less than an hour later.
Omran Jouma Shawan, one of the rebels who said he took part in the capture claimed Muammar 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.
Both Amnesty International and the United Nations called for investigations into Muammar Gaddafi’s death, a call echoed by his widow, Safia, from her exile in neighbouring Algeria.
Syrian TV quoted Safia as calling on the UN to investigate and saying she was proud of the courage shown by her husband and children.
Muammar Gaddafi’s widow, Safia
In a statement, the Gaddafi’s family asked for the bodies of dictator, his son Mutassim, and others who were killed on Thursday by fighters who overran his hometown Sirte.
“We call on the UN, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International to force the [National] Transitional Council to hand over the martyrs’ bodies to our tribe in Sirte and to allow them to perform their burial ceremony in accordance with Islamic customs and rules.”
According to TV reports in Dubai and Jordan yesterday, Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter Aisha called her father’s mobile phone after seeing reports in Algeria that he had been captured and was answered by rebels. Aisha screamed at them and called them “rats”.
Muammar Gaddafi’s shooting has raised unwanted questions about the ability of the new leadership to control the men with guns, as well as causing discomfort for Western allies about respect for justice and human rights among those who claimed to be fighting for just those ideals.
A series of graphic videos apparently taken on mobile phones clearly shows Muammar Gaddafi alive after being pulled from a concrete sewer in his home city of Sirte on Thursday morning, being manhandled by NTC fighters and then his dead body being dragged along a pavement.
Muammar Gaddafi’s son Mutassim, who commanded the defence of Sirte, was also killed after capture.
Yesterday, Mutassim’s body, scarred by numerous cigarette burns, was laid out beside his father’s in a makeshift mortuary at an old meat store in the coastal city of Misrata.
Muammar Gaddafi’s and his son Mutassim bodies were laid out in a makeshift mortuary at an old meat store in the coastal city of Misrata
United Nations human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville said: “There seem to be four or five different versions of how he died.
“If you take these videos together, they are rather disturbing because you see someone who has been captured alive and then you see the same person dead.
“We feel that it is very important that there is a serious investigation into what caused his death.”
According to a post-mortem report read by Libya’s Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, Muammar Gaddafi was hauled unresisting from the sewer pipe, shot in the arm and put in a truck which was “caught in crossfire” as it ferried him to hospital.
Dr. Ibrahim Tika, who examined the bodies in Misrata yesterday, said:
“There was a bullet and that was the primary reason for his death, it penetrated his gut. . . then there was another bullet that went in and out of his head.”
Forensic report and medical evidence appear to support the claims of fighters involved in Gaddafi’s capture, who said in the immediate aftermath that he had been shot in the stomach.
United Nations officials said an investigation would need to examine the “wealth” of video footage which showed a crowd of fighters shoving and pulling the balding Gaddafi, blood splattered on his face and soaking his shirt after he was dragged from the pipe.
The controversy delayed Muammar Gaddafi’s burial which under Islamic custom is meant to take place within 24 hours of death.
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