Jubilation as new leaders prepare to declare Libya free and independent

[monitor]

Jubilation as new leaders prepare to declare Libya free

Libya's new leaders make an official declaration of liberation on behalf of the country in Benghazi's Tahrir Square


The National Transitional Council (NTC) is due to make a formal declaration in the city where it was based during the war to end Gaddafi's 42-year rule.

His capture and death on Thursday came as Nato-backed NTC forces pursued loyalists in his stronghold, Sirte.

The NTC has come under pressure to investigate how he died.

A post-mortem carried out on the former leader's body on Sunday showed he had received a bullet wound to the head, medical sources said.

The body itself, along with that of Gaddafi's son Mutassim, has been put on public display in a cold storage facility in Misrata.

Thousands of people were killed or injured after the violent repression of protests against Gaddafi's rule in February developed into a full-scale civil war.

His government was driven out of the capital, Tripoli, in August.

However he refused to surrender or leave the country, urging his followers to resist the country's new leaders.


After a reading of prayers from the Koran and singing of the national anthem, speakers took to the stage to address the crowd to praise the efforts of NTC fighters against Gaddafi.

The formal declaration is due to be delivered by NTC leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

One speaker told the crowd: "We declare to the whole world that we have liberated our beloved country, with its cities, villages, hill-tops, mountains, deserts and skies."

Another speaker, Salah el Ghazal, praised Mr Abdul Jalil as "the man of the hour".

Elections are due to be held by June of next year, Libya's acting Prime Minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said earlier.

The new elected body, he added, would draft a constitution to be put to a referendum and form an interim government pending a presidential election.

There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam, and Col Gaddafi's security chief - who are both at large

Video footage showed him being captured alive. Officials said he had been killed subsequently in a crossfire.

A post-mortem carried out on the former leader's body on Sunday showed he had received a bullet wound to the head, medical sources said.

The commander of the forces that captured Gaddafi has given details of the Libyan ex-leader's last moments to the BBC.

Omran al-Oweib said he had been dragged from a drainage pipe and had taken 10 steps before he collapsed amid gunfire between NTC forces and Gaddafi supporters.

"I didn't see who killed, which weapon killed Gaddafi," Mr Oweib said.

NTC spokesman Mustapha Goubrani said Gaddafi's body would be handed over to people from his tribe for burial.

Mr Jibril told the BBC's Hardtalk programme he would have preferred to have Gaddafi alive, to face prosecution for his crimes, and added that he would welcome a full inquiry into his death.

One of Gaddafi's best-known sons, Saif al-Islam, as well as his security chief both remain at large.

Hardtalk with Libyan acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril is being broadcast on BBC World News on Sunday 23 October at 10:30, 12:30 and 23:30 GMT.

 

[lem34]

And next step will be american puppet regime will give free and cheap oil to all who helped it like americans and west as a thank you

 

[monitor]

Libya declares nation liberated after Gaddafi death
BENGHAZI, Libya | Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:40pm BST


(Reuters) - Libya declared the liberation of the nation on Sunday after 42 years of one-man rule by Muammar Gaddafi came to an end with his capture and death last week, setting the North African state on course for a transition towards democracy.

"We declare to the whole world that we have liberated our beloved country, with its cities, villages, hill-tops, mountains, deserts and skies," said an official who opened the ceremony in Benghazi, the place where the uprising erupted in February and which has been the headquarters for the National Transitional Council (NTC).

"No doubt we are at a decisive moment in our beloved Libya's history," lawyer Abdel Rahman el-Qeesy said, who announced the creation of a new government portfolio to deal with victims and families of the martyrs of the uprising.

"Libya is the persevering fighter which has made a liar of the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi, the contemptible man who has become a corpse under the feet of our heroes who revolted on February 17 and said to the tyrant no," he said in an impassioned address.

"We are the Libyans. We have shown you who we are Gaddafi, you Pharaoh of the times. You have fallen into the garbage bin of history," Qeesy added.

Crowds listening to Libyan music and waving the tri-colour flag cheered. Omar Hariri, one of the officers who took part in Gaddafi's 1969 coup but was later jailed, was appointed head of the military. He was one of the interim government's senior military commanders during the revolt.

"We do not differentiate between the civilian revolutionaries and the national army. The blood of both has mixed here on this battle ground," Hariri said as military helicopters hovered over the celebration.

Hariri promised that Libya's army would side with the people.

"It will completely side with the people, its doctrine will be protecting the nation, protecting democracy and will not be an aide to a tyrant," he said.

Salah el Ghazal, another official who addressed the tens of thousands of people gathered for the celebrations, paid tributes to all those who died, and referred to the "humiliating" death of Gaddafi.

Dozens of officials and tribal leaders gathered under a white canopy, speaking from a podium to the crowd who broke into frequent "God is great" chant.

Ghazal said that the North African country was blessed with Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the NTC.

"God has blessed us with the Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who deserves to be the man of the hour," said Ghazal, who is a local official of the NTC.

"This is the humiliating end that God wanted to set as example for anyone who practices the worst forms of injustice .. against their people," he added.

Gaddafi, who vowed to fight to the end, was found hiding in a drain after fleeing Sirte, the last bastion of his loyalists. He died in chaotic circumstances after video footage showed him bloodied and struggling at the hands of his captors.

(Reporting by Yasmine and Brian Rohan in Benghazi and Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed, Omar Fahmy and Edmund Blair in Cairo; Writing by Dina Zayed, Editing by William Maclean)

 

[INDTAM]

And next step will be american puppet regime will give free and cheap oil to all who helped it like americans and west as a thank you

for once i 1 billion percent agree with you.

their worries has just started another Iraq in waiting
I pray something like that never happens.

Though Gadaffi was a tyrant ruler but i still feel bad to see him killed that way is it bad of me????

 

[888jamie888]

And next step will be american puppet regime will give free and cheap oil to all who helped it like americans and west as a thank you

Sounds fair.