Libya to prosecute Gaddafi killers

Libya's new leaders have vowed to bring Muammar Gaddafi's executioners to justice, AFP reported on October 28.

“Regarding Gaddafi, we are not waiting for anyone to tell us what to do,” Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, deputy head of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), told a news conference in the city of Benghazi, AFP reported. “We have conducted an investigation. We have ethical rules for holding prisoners of war. There have been violations by those who, unfortunately, are also considered revolutionaries.”

Gaddafi was alive when he was captured, a photo taken from a video recorded on a mobile phone - Photo: AP

"I am sure that the actions of an individual are not those of the revolutionaries or the national army. We have issued a statement affirming that any violation of human rights will be investigated by the NTC. Whoever is responsible for it (the execution of Gaddafi) will be tried and given a fair trial."

Until that announcement, the NTC had maintained that Gaddafi had died in fighting after he was captured in Sirte, his hometown and the last bastion of the former regime. Mobile phone footage showed him alive when he was captured. Later footage showed him being dragged out in front of a crowd with a bloody face, before disappearing amid the chaos and the sound of gunfire.

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son, an NTC opponent - Photo: AFP

Meanwhile, in New York, the United States, the Security Council passed a resolution demanding the suspension of the imposition of a no-fly zone and the task of protecting Libyan civilians from late on October 31.

All members of the United Nations Security Council have voted to end the UN mandate for NATO military action in Libya, closing another chapter in the civil war.

NATO is scheduled to meet separately on October 28 in Brussels to formally declare an end to its seven-month air campaign in Libya. The military organization may shift to another mission in Libya, according to Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, but that remains unclear.

NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Gaddafi loyalists in neighbouring countries remained a threat to the current government and urged NATO to continue its campaign in Libya.

AFP said it was reported that Gaddafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, and Gaddafi's son and successor, Saif al-Islam, had moved from Niger, their previous refuge, to Mali.

(According to Tuoi Tre)