[smoothy]

UN To Probe Gaddafi's Death •His Children In Exile, On The Run •Body In Meat Locker, Burial Delayed

Saturday, 22 October 2011



It is no longer news that the former maximum ruler of Libya, Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi, has been killed in a gun duel with forces of the National Transitional Council of the war-torn country. The issue is now that the United Nations, one of Gaddafi's wives and two major human rights groups have called for an investigation into his death on Friday amid questions over the last moments of the late Libyan strongman's life.



"There seem to be four or five different versions of how he died," the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. "More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in the fighting or after his capture."

Questions also persisted about what would happen to Gadhafi's body. But how have the children been faring and what does the future hold for those of them who are still alive and perhaps on the run?

Gaddafi's pampered eight children, among whom is a footballer, earned reputations for extravagance, violence and bizarre behaviour almost said to equal their father's.

Amid the war, three, out of the eight, now appear to be dead like the deposed Libyan leader himself; four are scattered in exile and one remains on the run, putting an end to four decades of opulence and tyrannical regime of their late feudal father.

Jealousy and greed long poisoned relations within the family, but when rebellion broke out in February, Gaddafi's seven sons and one daughter closed ranks around their father, breaking off lives that they had lived abroad.

A leaked U.S. diplomatic report from 2009 noted that “internecine strife is nothing new for the famously fractious family.” Several Libyan officials lost their jobs or were forced into exile after falling foul with family members.

Perhaps the best internationally known son, Saif al-Islam, is also the most elusive. A senior official of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said, on Friday, that he was fleeing south from the last Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte towards Libya's border with Niger, where another son has already taken refuge.

Al Arabiya TV quoted some other NTC officials as saying Saif al-Islam had been captured near Misrata, but this was unconfirmed.

English-speaking Saif al-Islam, who studied at the London School of Economics, had been considered a possible heir-apparent to his father.

His rhetoric during the rebellion forced analysts to rethink some views that he was a reformer. After protesters took over eastern Libya and rioted in Tripoli, he threatened dire consequences, saying if the protests did not stop, “instead of mourning 84 (people killed), we will be mourning hundreds of thousands.”

Once seen as the acceptable face of the Libyan regime, Saif al-Islam, like his father, was wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The ICC reported that Saif al-Islam had been arrested as Tripoli fell, but shortly afterwards, he appeared in front of the international media in the capital to disprove the reports.

Reports say three of Ghaddafi's sons, Mo'tassim, Khamis and Saif al-Arab, appear to be dead.

Once the National Security Adviser to his father, Mo'tassim died on Thursday near his father's hometown of Sirte, his body, naked from the waist up, went on display in the city of Misrata, which endured a long bombardment by Gaddafi forces costing many lives.

Local people jostled around the corpse, laid on blankets on the floor and covered up to the waist by a blue plastic sheet, to take pictures on their cell phones. A doctor, who examined his body, said he had apparently died after his father.

Khamis played a leading role in Gaddafi's effort to crush the revolt as commander of the 32nd Brigade, one of Libya's best equipped units. As a boy, he was wounded in a 1986 United States bombing of Tripoli and was reported killed, at least, three times during this year's conflict. However, a Syrian-based television station that supported Gaddafi confirmed earlier this month that he had died in fighting southeast of Tripoli on August 29.

Saif al-Arab was killed in a NATO bombing raid on Tripoli. As a four-year-old, he was also wounded in the air strike on his father's compound ordered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

The spoilt son of an indulgent father, he studied in Germany and was reported to have been involved in a fight at a Munich nightclub with a bouncer who tried to throw out his female companion after she began to undress on the dance floor.

In United States diplomatic cables, Saif al-Arab was said to have spent “much time partying.” The remaining children appear to be safe for the moment at least in neighbouring countries.

Saadi fled to Niger in September, where the government has said he would not be extradited if there was a possibility he would not get a fair trial or risked getting the death penalty.

Saadi, who attempted to negotiate a peace deal with the NTC in late August after its fighters swept through Tripoli, had a brief and undistinguished career with several Italian soccer clubs and also captained the Libyan national team, whose coach was once fired for not selecting him.

Three other children are in Algeria. The government there said it had given refuge to Gaddafi's wife in August with daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Mohammed.

Aisha, who studied in France and spoke out in defence of her father after the fighting started, cultivated a glamorous image that led some to describe her as the Claudia Schiffer of North Africa. A lawyer, she later joined a team that unsuccessfully defended overthrown Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad.

Gaddafi's eldest son, Mohammed, headed Libya's Olympic Committee and was effectively in charge of Libya's telephone network, which was used to eavesdrop on anti-Gaddafi activists and put them in jail.

Hannibal is best known for an incident in a Geneva hotel which caused a diplomatic row. In 2008, Swiss police arrested Hannibal and his pregnant wife on charges of mistreating two domestic employees. They were soon released and the charges dropped but within days, Libya withdrew millions of dollars from Swiss bank accounts and halted oil exports to Switzerland.

Libya's Gaddafi Killed By Bullet In Stomach —Doctor

Meanwhile, reports say that Muammar Gaddafi was fatally wounded by a bullet in his intestines, following his capture, according to a doctor who examined his body amid conflicting accounts of how the fugitive former Libyan leader met his end.

“Gaddafi was arrested while he was alive, but he was killed later. There was a bullet and that was the primary reason for his death; it penetrated his gut,” doctor Ibrahim Tika told Al Arabiya television. “Then there was another bullet in the head that went in and out of his head.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, reading what he said was a post-mortem report, said Gaddafi was hauled unresisting from a “sewage pipe,” shot in the arm and put in a truck which was “caught in crossfire” as it ferried him to hospital.

Gaddafi, In Meat Locker

Muammar Gaddafi's body lay in an old meat store on Friday as arguments over a burial, and his killing after being captured, dogged efforts by Libya's new leaders to make a formal start on a new era of democracy.

A bullet wound visible through his long, curly hair, the corpse shown to Reuters in Misrata appeared to be an object of wrangling among the factions of fighters who overthrew him, along with control of weapons and of Libya's oil wealth.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi's burial has been delayed by differences among officials about what should be done with the body.

Under Islamic tradition, burial should have taken place as soon as possible. But Libya's oil minister said the remains may be kept “for a few days.”

It is unclear whether the ex-leader will be buried in Sirte, where he was captured on Thursday, in Misrata where the body has been taken, or elsewhere.

A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent in Tripoli says the authorities now have to decide how to deal with Gaddafi's death and, in particular, his burial.

“They have said they will conduct a secret burial and there is some speculation that they might even try to bury him at sea, as happened with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine,” she added.

Oil Minister, Ali Tarhouni, told Reuters news agency that Gaddafi's body was not going to be released from a morgue in Misrata for immediate burial.

“I told them to keep it in the freezer for a few days... to make sure that everybody knows he is dead,” he said.

Asked about the burial arrangements, he said: “There is no decision yet.”

Reuters quotes senior NTC commander, Abdel Majid Mlegta, as saying members of the colonel's tribe are in contact with anti-Gaddafi fighters to discuss the possibility of taking on the task of burying him.

But after the death of the longtime ruler, most of the roughly 500 fighters of the "Lions of the Wadi" brigade -- who had converted an abandoned resort west of Sirte into their temporary headquarters -- packed up their belongings Friday and quietly drove home to Misrata.

Like many of the revolutionary fighters across Libya, these men aren't really soldiers. They are engineers, doctors, teachers, businessmen -- everyday people united by the common goal of ending Gadhafi's 42-year dictatorship.

UN To Probe Gaddafi?s Death ?His Children In Exile, On The Run ?Body In Meat Locker, Burial Delayed



Like anyone actually gives a damn the idiot got killed. Where was their outrage when it was him having other Libyans killed for no reason under the sun.


At least THIS was the result of a war, he was a leader of the Military, and this happened as a result of that war... and is legal under the rules of war.

Were is the UN in "investigating" the killings of the rebels that were captured?

Not supprised actually, the UN are almost all a bunch of blowhards and Tryrants themselves

[kcomissiong]

Smoothy, I care. I loved the Vanity Fair slide show about his fab outfits and penchant to over-accessorize. Besides, I had a great idea for a "where's Gaddafi" shirt that has gone down in flames. There is a picture of him with the other world leaders at the G-8 summit in '09. He looks like john Travolta in Saturday Night Fever in the sea of black and charcoal suits. We won't have hilarity like that in a world leader again.

Now, to actually be serious. They probably shot him. So... Do we really expect him to get better treatment than he gave his own people for 42 years? I guess I'm just mean and unfeeling, but he had it coming. The head of the proverbial snake has been cut off and now its dead. Good riddance.

[Fr_Chuck]

Nor do I really expect the new government to be much better in the treatment of the people, new leader, old ways.
I think someone or somehow people thought that civil rights, human freedoms and proper arrest procedures were to be followed upon his capture.

I guess they could have had a fake trial, and then executed him, but this was a faster end, and a good sign of things to come from the future government

[smoothy]

The article almost is almost as much about the hypocrisy of the UN than it is about what actually happened... irregardless of word counts.

The UN didn't make a huge stink over the last 42 years about Libya or any other country run by dictators or despots when they abused their own people. Except a few times... and those usually didn't brown-nose the UN which likely explains WHY.

He was almost like a walking sideshow... I'll give him that... if he wasn't as repressive as he was with his own people.

No more entertainment value in future speachs from him, that's for sure.

I fully expect the UN to back any other aspiring despot that tries to get the position.

[kcomissiong]

They completely give the impression that summary execution, brutal repression, and random imprisonment and torture can be overlooked, depending on who you are and how beneficial your country is. Its been overlooked all this time, they should at least remain consistent and look the other way now.

[tomder55]

Consistency ? Hypocrisy thy name is U.N.

Here's all we need to know . The world stood in unity against Apartheid South Africa and ,without a shot being fired ,utilizing a unified sanction regime ,the Apartheid government fell.

Had the UN applied the same principles to Saddam Hussein's Iraq ;had the world stood in unity against a brutal dictator who mass murdered the people of Iraq to the tune of many hundreds of thousands... had the UN enforced it's sanctions instead of running an underground corrupt Oil for Food scam (that made it to the highest reaches of the UN Secretariat ) ;then perhaps the regime would've fallen without an invasion.

[paraclete]

smoothy If you watched the video of daffy being taken you would have seen him taken alive by an angry mob. There were shots off camera and Daffy was dead. Clearly someone has a case to answer but it is unlikely that the UN will get anyone prosecuted.

[smoothy]

smoothy If you watched the video of daffy being taken you would have seen him taken alive by an angry mob. There were shots off camera and Daffy was dead. Clearly someone has a case to answer but it is unlikely that the UN will get anyone prosecuted.

I don't care that he was shot,. in fact I cheer the person that did. There was a war, it was on the Battlefield, its justified. It will save a LOT more people lives than if he was still breathing and his supporters were keeping up the fight, for days weeks or months longer.

But the point being is where was the UN the last 42 years with Libya, With Syria, with Iran, with any of the multitude of other lesser known despots that have been, are and will be killing many of their own dissidents?

One idiot gets shot... and all of a sudden it merits an investigation... Likely because all the palms that were getting greased in the UN by Gadhafi are no longer getting greased, and they are upset their cash cow is gone.

[paraclete]

An execution without due process is not justified.

[smoothy]

An execution without due process is not justified.

This was a battlefield... under the rules of war it is. Gadhafi was no more entitled than any of the thousands that died by his orders. It wasn't a traffic stop after all.

[paraclete]

Yes and in the eyes of Al Qaeda the towers were a battlefield, etc etc and this is no more acceptable than their effort because it overrules the rule of law. We should also be asking why NATO attacked the convoy. Were civilians in danger?

[tomder55]

Funny thing is I don't recall the angst when Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed after a very brief show trial.

History doesn't show the world conducting hearings when Benito Mussolini was hung upside down with a body part stuffed in his mouth.
Sic semper tyrannis

[paraclete]

Who'se worried about why, the question is is this what we can expect from the NTC?

[smoothy]

yes and in the eyes of Al Qaeda the towers were a battlefield, etc etc and this is no more acceptable than their effort because it overrules the rule of law. we should also be asking why NATO attacked the convoy. Were civilians in danger?

Not at all the same thing. And as far as why Nato attacked the convoy? There was a state of war in Libya, nobody can argue that point. We were aligned with the rebels.

[smoothy]

who'se worried about why, the question is is this what we can expect from the NTC?

Well, what we can expect is another country run by Islamic Lunatics imposing Sharia on its people... and we all know how human rights friendly that ancient abomination is. Nothing like the 7th century mindset...

Personally, I don't think we had any business in there in the first place... they weren't threatening us. But Obama had to stick his nose in it anyway so now he owns whatever mess happens as a result.

[tomder55]

It's his cover for his cut and run from Iraq and Afghanistan.

[paraclete]

How does BO get into this, do you think they asked his permission before they blew Daffy away? Similarities to OBL but hardly US boots on the ground, or were they?

[smoothy]

If we have planes in the air... there are boots on the ground. Every time. Officially or not makes no difference.

[paraclete]

If we have planes in the air....there are boots on the ground. Every time. Officially or not makes no difference.

But did you have planes in the air? This was a fairly efficient air strike perhaps a drone strike but do you need boots on the ground to use a drone?

[smoothy]

But did you have planes in the air? This was a fairly efficient air strike perhaps a drone strike but do you need boots on the ground to use a drone?

We spent Billions there... there were boots on the ground... even if covertly. They can see far more than an eye in the sky can in many ways.