The body of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was buried overnight in a secret location after days of being put on display in a market freezer, a Misrata military council member said yesterday.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Qaddafi’s remains were buried “overnight in a religious ceremony” along with the corpses of his son, al-Mutassim Billah, and former Libyan defense minister Abubakr Yunus Jaber.
According to guards at the entrance to the market on the outskirts of Misrata, a convoy of four or five military vehicles took away the bodies late on Monday night to an unknown location.
Photo: EPA
Three religious leaders loyal to the ousted leader prayed and performed a religious ceremony before the burial, the military council member said.
The father and two sons of the former defense minister were present when the bodies were picked up at the market, the source said.
The burials come amid raging controversy over the circumstances of Qaddafi’s death after he was taken alive during the fall of his hometown, Sirte, on Thursday.
Libyan interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Monday that a commission of inquiry is to probe Qaddafi’s killing after foreign governments and rights group raised questions.
“In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Qaddafi’s death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured,” Jalil said.
The UN human rights office welcomed this announcement.
Disquiet has grown internationally over how Qaddafi met his end after National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following NATO air strikes on the convoy in which he had been trying to flee his falling hometown.
Mobile phone videos show him still alive at that point.
Jibril said in Jordan on Sunday that an autopsy report showed Qaddafi was killed in “crossfire from both sides.”
Since Friday, thousands of ordinary Libyans have viewed the bodies of the slain men, many taking pictures on their mobile phone.
Meanwhile, a fuel tank exploded in Sirte, killing more than 100 people, a military commander said yesterday.
“There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded” in Monday night’s blast, NTC commander Leith Mohammed said.
He said the scene was “a heart wrenching spectacle with dozens of charred bodies.”
The accidental explosion happened as a crowd of people waited near the fuel tank to fill up their cars.
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