Gaddafi's dead

Cairo - Libya's fugitive leader Moamer Gaddafi was injured in the leg and arrested in his hometown Sirte, the Free Libya TV reported quoting sources in the National Transitional Council Thursday.

Al Jazeera has acquired exclusive footage of the body of Muammar Gaddafi after he was killed in his hometown, Sirte.

Abdul Hakim Belhaj, an NTC military chief, said Gaddafi had died of his wounds after being captured near Sirte on Thursday.

The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official said.

"Gaddafi’s body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters. Earlier, Abdel Majid, another NTC official, said the toppled leader had been wounded in both legs.

A photograph taken on a mobile phone appeared to show Gaddafi heavily bloodied, but it was not possible to confirm the authenticity of the picture.

The news came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown, after weeks of fighting. "Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter in the town said.

Former spokesman captured

Another NTC commander said that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Gaddafi’s fallen government, was captured near Sirte.


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Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the 11th brigade, also said he had seen the body of the chief of Gaddafi’s armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr.

"I’ve seen him with my own eyes," he said and showed Reuters a picture of Jabr’s body. "Moussa Ibrahim was also captured and both of them were transferred to [our] operations room."

NATO and the US state department said they could not confirm any reports. Meanwhile in Benghazi, crowds gathered in the streets to start celebrating the reports of Gaddafi’s death.