Former Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Warned Tony Blair On The Rise Of The Islamic State

British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) shakes hands with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a tent outside Tripoli, March 25. 2004. © Madeleine Chambers / Reuters

The Independent: Phone conversation transcript reveals Colonel Gaddafi warned Tony Blair about the rise of Islamic extremism

Transcripts of phone calls between the pair have been released by the Foreign Affairs Committee as it investigates British intervention in Libya

Muammar Gaddafi accused Tony Blair of supporting al-Qaeda as he refused calls to stand down during the height of the Libyan uprising, newly-released transcripts have revealed.

Records of two phone conversations between the pair on 25 February 2011 have been published by the Foreign Affairs Committee as its inquiry into Britain’s intervention continues.

Mr Blair made his first call to the Libyan dictator at 11.15am, saying he had tried to reach him for days as the “difficult and dangerous situation” escalated with global calls for intervention.

More News On Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Warning Tony Blair On The Rise Of The Islamic State

Gaddafi warned Tony Blair of Islamist attacks on Europe, phone transcripts reveal -- Daily Mail
Gaddafi warned Blair his ousting would 'open door' to jihadis -- The Guardian
Gadafi warned in telephone conversations with Tony Blair on the rise of Islamic radicalism -- The Telegraph
Blair told Gaddafi to 'step aside', phone records show -- BBC
Gaddafi Warned Blair About Attacks In Europe -- SKY News
Gaddafi accused Blair of ‘supporting Al-Qaeda,’ unseen phone transcripts reveal -- RT
Gaddafi's Grim Prophecy Fulfills as Terrorism Spreads Across Europe -- Sputnik
Gaddafi’s warnings to Blair have been proven by today's attack on Libyan police training centre -- Patrick Cockburn, The Independent

New Book On Former Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Lifts Lid On His Brutal Treatment Of Women

Image: The harrowing story is told in the book Gaddafi's Harem by Annick Cojean

The Terrible Truth About Gaddafi's Harem: How Libyan Dictator Kidnapped And Raped Dozens Of Women To Fulfil His Perverted Desires -- Daily Mail

* Harrowing story of schoolgirl abducted by Gaddafi at the age of 15
* She endured almost seven years of rapes, beatings and abuse
* Tyrant claimed to be the great emancipator of women in the Arab world
* In reality he abused women on a massive scale since seizing power
* Even known to take women from their own wedding ceremonies
* New book Gaddafi's Harem lifts lid on dictator's brutal treatment of women

The horror started with the lightest of touches. As the 15-year-old schoolgirl held out the bouquet to the 62-year-old man, he took her free hand and kissed it gently.

The man was Muammar Gaddafi, the dictator of Libya who had seized power 35 years before. His people were forced to call him the Guide, but the rest of the world knew him simply as Colonel Gaddafi.

That morning in April 2004, Gaddafi was visiting a school in his home town of Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast 350 miles east of Tripoli.

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My Comment: It has been almost two years since Gaddafi was killed .... but I suspect that it will take another generation or two before more details on how Gaddafi ruled will be disclosed .... but Annicj Dojean's book is a start.

New Book Reveals The Sex Crimes Committed By the Gaddafi Regime

'I Am Your Papa': Moammar Khadafy Sex Slave Reveals Nightmare Of Rape, Fear And Captivity -- New York Post

One weekday morning in April 2004, a Libyan girl named Soraya was accorded one of her nation’s highest honors: Col. Moammar Khadafy was visiting her school, and Soraya alone had been chosen to present him with a bouquet.

“You can’t imagine the excitement,” she recalled. “To see Khadafy in person . . . His face had been known to me since I was born.” Soraya was ushered into a makeshift dressing room, where she changed into traditional garb for the Libyan woman: red pants and tunic, small hat.

“My heart was beating a hundred miles a minute,” Soraya said. She was 15 years old, a good Muslim girl who had never had a sip of alcohol, a drag from a cigarette or kissed a boy. “It all happened very fast. I held out the bouquet, then took his free hand in mine and kissed it as I bowed down . . . I felt like I was on a cloud.” Then he patted her head.

Read more ....

More News On The Sex Crimes Committed By The Gaddafi Regime

My ordeal as Gadaffi's sex slave: Woman who was kept in a dungeon and used to satisfy brutal dictator -- Daily Mail
Blair 'met teenage sex slaves outside Gaddafi's tent': Schoolgirl reveals she was greeted by former PM following talks -- Daily Mail
‘Hi girls,’ Blair tells Qaddafi’s teen sex slaves: report -- Al Arabiya
Libya starts facing up to Gaddafi regime's sex crimes -- Times of India/Reuters

My Comment: These revelations are now giving impetus to this .... Libya aiming to make rape in armed conflict a war crime.

How Did Gaddafi Die?

How Did Gaddafi Die? A Year Later, Unanswered Questions and Bad Blood -- Time

A year after Libya's long-ruling despot Muammar Gaddafi was cornered and killed by rebel forces, questions remain over the nature of his death and its legacy for the fractious, fledgling Libyan state

It’s been a year since the world was transfixed by the extraordinary video of Muammar Gaddafi, sitting bloodied and cowering in his hometown of Sirt, as he faced his imminent death, while Libyan rebels pummeled him with rifle butts and boots. Within minutes his 42-year dictatorship, and the seven-month civil war, was over.

But what exactly happened that day—Oct. 20, 2011?

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More News On The Death Of Muammar Gaddafi

Colonel Gaddafi died after being stabbed with bayonet, says report -- The Telegraph
Colonel Gaddafi 'Killed by Bayonet Stab to the Anus' [VIDEO] -- IBTimes
Hunted: A first-hand account of Gaddafi’s desperate last days -- Washington Post
Rights group recounts Gadhafi's last bloody moments, calls for justice -- CNN
Many Libyans executed in Gaddafi capture: report -- Reuters
Report: Gadhafi convoy members executed -- UPI
The final hours of Muammar Gaddafi revealed -- Belfast Telegraph
Report: Libyan militias executed dozens, possibly including Gadhafi -- CNN
Libyan militia 'executed 67 detainees' -- The Guardian
Gadhafi Loyalists Executed by Rebels: Rights Group -- Epoch Times
Libya: New Proof Of Mass Killings At Gaddafi Death Site -- Huffington Post
'War crime': Gaddafi, his son and over 60 loyalists executed by rebel fighters – HRW -- RT
Libya report probes 'war crimes' and Gadhafi's death -- Deutsche Welle
US pushes Libya for Gaddafi death probe -- The Australian/AFP

Did France Kill Gaddafi?

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) greets Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris as he arrives for a five day official visit in this December 10, 2007 file photo. Almost every modern conflict from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo has served as a test of air power. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

Did A French Spy Kill Muammar Gaddafi? -- Bruce Crumley, Time

Overlapping news reports in Europe suggest that French intelligence services located and killed fleeing Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 using critical information provided by a fellow tyrant: Syrian President Bashar Assad

Was the October 2011 killing of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi amid a crowd of insurgents in fact a professional hit by French intelligence services — with an assist from Syrian strongman Bashar Assad? That’s the speculation that has emerged from overlapping European media reports in recent weeks, suggesting Gaddafi’s death may have been a bid to prevent him from revealing damaging secrets about the government of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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My Comment: I covered this story a week and a half ago .... and as I had said then .... more collaboration will be needed for this story. But as speculation goes .... it is interesting.

Did France And Syria Plot Together To Betray And Kill Libyan Strongman Muammar Gaddafi?

Bashar al-Assad and Muammar Gaddafi. Atlantic Council

Bashar al-Assad 'Betrayed Col Gaddafi To Save His Syrian Regime' -- The Telegraph

The Assad regime in Syria brought about Muammar Gaddafi's death by providing France with the key intelligence which led to the operation that killed him, sources in Libya have claimed.

French spies operating in Sirte, Gaddafi's last refuge, were able to set a trap for the Libyan dictator after obtaining his satellite telephone number from the Syrian government, they said.

In what would amount to an extraordinary betrayal of one Middle East strongman by another, President Bashar al-Assad sold out his fellow tyrant in an act of self-preservation, a former senior intelligence official in Tripoli told the Daily Telegraph.

With international attention switching from Libya to the mounting horrors in Syria, Mr Assad offered Paris the telephone number in exchange for an easing of French pressure on Damascus, according to Rami El Obeidi.

"In exchange for this information, Assad had obtained a promise of a grace period from the French and less political pressure on the regime – which is what happened," Mr El Obeidi said.

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My Comment: More collaboration will be needed for this story. But as speculation goes .... it is interesting.

New Video Shows Gaddafi's Body After He Was Killed

Shocking New Video Shows Gaddafi's Body 'Being Used By Rebels As Ghoulish Ventriloquist's Doll' -- Daily Mail

A gruesome new video which appears to show Muammar Gaddafi's dead body being abused by rebels has surfaced online.

In the shocking clip, which was posted to YouTube on Monday, high-spirited demonstrators apparently use the Libyan dictator's corpse as a ventriloquist's doll.

The footage came to light after a Syrian activist linked to it on Twitter, aiming a threat at Syria's leader Bashar Al Assad.

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My Comment: This video should be sent to Syria's embattled dictator.

Was Gaddafi's Death A War Crime?

Image taken from amateur video posted on a social media website and obtained by Reuters, October 21, 2011, shows former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, covered in blood, after his capture by NTC fighters in Sirte. Photo: Reuters

ICC Prosecutor Says Gadhafi's Death May Be War Crime -- Voice of America

The International Criminal Court's ICC chief prosecutor says there are "serious suspicions" that the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was a war crime.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the comments Thursday at a press briefing at the United Nations. Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC is asking Libya's interim government how it plans to investigate alleged war crimes, including those of revolutionary forces.

"I think the way in which Mr. Gadhafi was killed creates suspicions of war crimes and I think that a very important issue," the chief prosecutor said.

Read more ....

More News On The ICC Prosecutor Saying That Gadhafi's Death May Be A War Crime

Gadhafi's death suspicious, ICC says -- UPI
ICC prosecutor says there are ‘serious suspicions’ Moammar Gadhafi’s death was a war crime -- Washington Post/AP
Gaddafi's death could amount to a 'war crime', ICC says -- The Telegraph
Gaddafi's death may be war crime: ICC prosecutor -- Reuters
ICC says Muammar Gaddafi killing may be war crime -- BBC
'Serious suspicions' Gaddafi death a war crime: ICC -- Sydney Morning Herald
ICC says Gadhafi killing may be war crime -- UPI
Qaddafi's death: Will the ICC launch a war-crimes investigation? -- Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: Of course how he was killed was a crime .... but a war crime .... no.

A Look At The Fate Of Moammar Gadhafi's Family

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

A Look At The Fate Of Key Members Of Moammar Gadhafi’s Family -- Washington Post/AP

A look at the fate of key members of ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s family:

MOAMMAR GADHAFI — Libya’s leader of nearly 42 years was captured by revolutionary forces in his hometown of Sirte. Libyan officials initially said Gadhafi was killed in crossfire between revolutionary fighters and loyalists. However, video footage emerged showing him being beaten, taunted and abused by his captors, raising questions about how and when he died. His body was later put on public display in the nearby city of Misrata until he was buried in a secret location.

MUATASSIM GADHAFI — Formerly the regime’s national security adviser, Muatassim was shot to death after he was found hiding with his father in Sirte. His body also was put on display alongside Moammar Gadhafi and ex-Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis. A former bodyguard has said Gadhafi and his son traveled to Sirte shortly after fleeing Tripoli when the Libyan capital fell to revolutionary forces. Mansour Dao said Muatassim led loyalist fighters in the besieged city.

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My Comment: Good riddance is what I say.

Gadhafi's Son Saif al-Islam Is Captured In Libya -- New Roundup

Gadhafi's Son Saif al-Islam Captured In Libya -- CNN

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has been captured in a firefight in the Libyan desert after weeks on the run, senior Libyan military commanders said Saturday.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was caught by revolutionary fighters after 15 days of pursuit in the area between the southwestern oasis town of Obari and southern town of Sabha, military commanders in Tripoli told CNN.

Read more ....

More News On The Capture Of Gadhafi's Son Saif al-Islam

Moammar Gadhafi’s captured son Seif al-Islam was Libyan leader’s former heir apparent -- Washington Post/AP
Son of Libya’s Gadhafi Captured -- Voice of America
Kadafi son Seif Islam reported captured in Libya -- L.A. Times
Gaddafi son Saif seized in Libya: officials -- Reuters
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi captured in Libya -- The Guardian
Gaddafi's son -- BBC
Qaddafi’s Son Saif Al-Islam Captured in Libya, Commander Says -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Gadhafi son Seif al-Islam seized in southern Libya -- AP
Kadhafi's son Seif 'arrested' in south Libya -- AFP
Gaddafi's son captured in Libya -- The Independent
Saif Gaddafi arrested in desert after month-long hunt by Libya's new government -- The Telegraph
Tripoli 'celebrating' news of capture -- BBC
Angry crowd attacks plane with arrested Gaddafi’s son – media -- RIA Novosti
A Look at Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Son of Moammar Gadhafi -- Voice of America

Was A British Company Trying To Help Gaddafi Flee Libya?

South African Intelligence Investigates Role Of British Company In Col Gaddafi's Attempt To Flee Sirte -- The Telegraph

The South African intelligence services are investigating the role of a British company in a mission to help Colonel Gaddafi flee from Libya which ended in his capture and death.

According to a senior intelligence source, both the British firm and a woman in Kenya who is thought to have recruited South African mercenaries on its behalf are "of interest" in their investigation.

It has been alleged that one of the security firms who provided mercenaries for the mission may have acted as a “double agent”, helping Nato to pinpoint Gaddafi’s convoy for attack, and that the dictator’s escape was “meant to fail”.

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My Comment: I am skeptical of this story .... but then again .... Gaddafi was known to hire mercenaries, and hiring former SAS soldiers would fit in how he operated. The Daily Mail has more on this story.

A Summary And Analysis Of Gaddafi's Last Days

Muammar Gaddafi

King Of Kings: The Last Days Of Muammar Qaddafi -- Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker

How does it end? The dictator dies, shrivelled and demented, in his bed; he flees the rebels in a private plane; he is caught hiding in a mountain outpost, a drainage pipe, a spider hole. He is tried. He is not tried. He is dragged, bloody and dazed, through the streets, then executed. The humbling comes in myriad forms, but what is revealed is always the same: the technologies of paranoia, the stories of slaughter and fear, the vaults, the national economies employed as personal property, the crazy pets, the prostitutes, the golden fixtures.

Instinctively, when dictators are toppled, we invade their castles and expose their vanities and luxuries—Imelda’s shoes, the Shah’s jewels. We loot and desecrate, in order to cut them finally, futilely, down to size. After the fall of Baghdad, I visited the gaudiest of Saddam’s palaces, examined his tasteless art, his Cuban cigars, his private lakes with their specially bred giant fish, his self-worshipping bronze effigies. I saw thirty years’ worth of bodies in secret graves, along with those of Iraqis bound and shot just hours before liberation.

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My Comment: A rather good and comprehensive look and summary of Gaddafi's last days.

Gaddafi's Personal Driver Describes His Final Days

Huneish Nasr, Muammar Gaddafi's former personal driver, said 'the boss' had always been good to him. Photograph: Martin Chulov for the Guardian

Gaddafi's Driver On The Endgame: 'He Didn't Seem To Know What To Do' -- The Guardian

Huneish Nasr, who served Gaddafi for 30 years, tells how denial and confusion marked the final days of a crumbling regime

Huneish Nasr last saw the boss he served for 30 years standing in the ruins of Sirte looking confused as all hell broke loose around them.

"Everything was exploding," said Nasr, Muammar Gaddafi's personal driver, recalling the moments before the deposed dictator was caught last week. "The revolutionaries were coming for us. He wasn't scared, but he didn't seem to know what to do. It was the only time I ever saw him like that."

Minutes later, euphoric rebels had ended Gaddafi's last stand, over-running the ruined quarter of his birthplace that had served as his final, ignominious refuge.

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My Comment: Unlike his father .... Saif-al-Islam had better luck in escaping NATO air strikes and Libyan NTC soldiers. An insider's account of his escape can be read here.

Gaddafi's Family To Sue NATO For War Crimes

Photo: Moammar Kadafi, center, leans on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, left, and then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at a summit last year in Surt, Kadafi's hometown. Credit: Asmaa Waguih / Reuters

Moammar Kadafi's Family Reportedly Will Sue NATO -- L.A. Times

The family of deceased Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi reportedly plans to file a war-crimes complaint against NATO for the role they believe the international military alliance played in the former leader’s death, a lawyer for the family told Agence France-Presse news service.

Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who previously worked for Kadafi's regime and now represents his family, told AFP on Wednesday that the complaint would be filed with the International Criminal Court in the Hague because the family believes a NATO strike on Kadafi’s convoy led directly to his death.

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My Comment: The gall of this family is unbelievable .... but they have many supporters, both here and abroad.

Gaddafi's Funeral?

Is This The Body Of Colonel Gaddafi In A Wooden Coffin Moments Before He Was TakenTto His Grave? -- Daily Mail

* Gaddafi chemical weapons have been 'found' in Libya
* Nato postpones meeting to formalise a decision to conclude alliance's Libya mission until later this week

Amateur footage purporting to be of Colonel Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his defence minister Abu Bakr Yunis moments before they were taken away to be buried at a secret location in the Libyan desert has emerged.

The grainy video, shot on a mobile phone, shows three open wooden coffins each containing a body wrapped in a white sheet.

Dubai-based television network Al Alaan claims the footage is of a funeral ceremony near Misrata yesterday.

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My Comment: I am sure that one day .... years from now .... there will be a television documentary that will reveal Gaddafi's final burial place, and he will then be reburied in his hometown.

Why Gaddafi's Grave Is A Secret

No Relic, No Shrine: Why Gaddafi's Grave Is a Secret -- Vivienne Walt, Time

After a macabre five-day spectacle around his corpse, the man who ruled this country for 42 years was finally buried secretly in the vast Libyan desert at dawn on Tuesday, closing out what must be one of the most bizarre ends for any head of state. The questions about how Muammar Gaddafi died, however, have not been silenced.

Libya's interim leaders and military officials told journalists on Tuesday that Gaddafi had been transported into the Sahara and buried at 5 a.m. in an unknown location, with members of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) in attendance.

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My Comment: The Libyan NTC government is following the lead of the U.S. and on how they treated Bin Laden's body. Buried .... and out of sight. Is this the right strategy .... yes and no. His grave-site would have probably attracted some followers .... but as a rallying call for supporters to get together and be a threat to the new government .... I doubt that very much.

The Last Weeks Of Gaddafi As Revealed By His Bodyguard

In Final Weeks, Gaddafi Felt Both Rage And Despair, Frequently Changed Hideouts, Aide Says -- Washington Post

MISRATA, Libya — Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s all-powerful leader for four decades, spent his final weeks shuttling from hideout to hideout in his hometown of Sirte, alternating between rage and despair as his regime crumbled around him, said a regime insider now in custody.

Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and an entourage of two dozen die-hard loyalists were largely cut off from the world while on the run, living in abandoned homes without TV, phones or electricity, using candles for light, said Mansour Dao, a member of the Gadhafi clan and former chief bodyguard.

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My Comment: He was probably in denial .... right up to when he was captured and beaten by his captors. But what caught my eye in this report was the following comment from his bodyguard ....

.... “I feel sorry for him because he underestimated the situation,” Dao said. “He could have left and gotten out of the country and lived a happy life.”

Yup ... he could have left the country and lived a happy life. But .... I guess he and his family could not accept the idea that they could lose all this power .... that after ruling for decades the possibility of losing everything never entered their minds .... hence the battle to the end.

Moammar Gaddafi And His Son Are Buried In A Secret Desert Location

Moammar Gaddafi Buried In Secret Desert Location -- Washington Post

TRIPOLI—Former Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi was buried in a secret location on Tuesday, officials of the interim government said, ending a four-day spectacle in which his bloody body was displayed to a public celebrating his gory death as a fitting end to decades of repression.

Suliman Fortia, the representative of the city of Misurata on the national governing council, said in a telephone interview that Gaddafi’s body was put in an unmarked grave “somewhere in the desert” at dawn. Libyan officials have said they wanted to prevent his tomb being desecrated or turned into a pilgrimage site.

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More News On The Burial Of Muammar Gaddafi

Libyans bury Gadhafi in secret location at dawn -- Yahoo News/AP
Kadhafi, son buried at night in secret location -- Yahoo News/AFP
Gaddafi body handed to NTC loyalists for burial -- Yahoo News/Reuters
NTC official: Gadhafi buried along with son -- CNN
Col Gaddafi 'buried in secret, desert grave at dawn' -- BBC
Ignominious end for dictator Gaddafi as he is buried with his son Mutassim in unmarked desert grave at dawn -- Daily Mail
Gaddafi, son Mutassim buried at unknown place in desert -- Xinhuanet
Qaddafi Buried in Secret Desert Location: NTC -- Bloomberg
Who, What, Why: What are the burial customs in Islam? -- BBC

Analysis Of Gaddafi's Captured Indicates That He Was Sodomized (Very Graphic)

Gaddafi Sodomized: Video Shows Abuse Frame By Frame (GRAPHIC) -- Global Post

SIRTE, Libya — An analysis of video obtained by GlobalPost from a rebel fighter who recorded the moment when Col. Muammar Gaddafi was first captured confirms that another rebel fighter, whose identity is unknown, sodomized the former leader as he was being dragged from the drainpipe where he had taken cover.

A frame by frame analysis of this exclusive GlobalPost video clearly shows the rebel trying to insert some kind of stick or knife into Gaddafi's rear end.

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My Comment: Dictators beware.

New Video Emerges Of Gaddafi Being Beated Before Being Shot By Rebels

'I Killed Gaddafi', Claims Libyan Rebel As Most Graphic Video Yet Of Dictator Being Beaten Emerges -- Daily Mail

* WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
* 'Killer' brandishes bloodied shirt and ring purportedly taken from Gaddafi
* New footage shows dictator being beaten in the moments after his capture
* Graphic footage from Freedom Group TV, a Libyan 'citizen journalist' outfit
* Videos emerge after new Libyan leader says he wanted Gaddafi taken alive
* Libyans spend a fourth day filing past tyrant's battered body
* NTC form committee to investigate killing after pressure from allies
* Human rights groups claim to have found 53 loyalists in mass grave

A Libyan revolutionary fighter has bragged in a leaked video that he was the man who killed Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, that country's despotic former ruler.

The young man, who is pictured but has not yet been identified, said he killed the fallen dictator because he could not bear the thought of taking him alive.

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More News On The Death Of Gaddafi And It's Aftermath

Libya bows to calls for investigation into Gaddafi death -- The Guardian
Libyan authorities announce Gaddafi death investigation -- BBC
Libya’s Interim Leaders to Investigate Qaddafi Killing -- New York Times
Libya’s NTC under fire over loyalist killings -- Financial Times
Libya ends public showing of Gaddafi's body -- Reuters
Gaddafi’s body taken off display, but burial dispute continues -- National Post
Libya "liberated," but Gaddafi still unburied -- Reuters
On liberation day, Libyans flock to see Qaddafi – for proof, closure -- Christian Science Monitor
Why does it matter how Gaddafi died? -- Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Washington Post