Autopsy: Qaddafi was killed by shot to head
Col. Muammar Qaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years before he was driven from power by revolutionaries. This week he was captured by rebels; an autopsy reveals he died by a gunshot to the head.
TRIPOLI, Libya - An autopsy confirmed that Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi died from a gunshot to the head, the country's chief pathologist said Sunday, just hours before Libya's new leaders were to declare liberation and a formal end to an eight-month civil war to topple the longtime ruler's regime.
The declaration starts the clock on a transition to democracy that is fraught with uncertainty and could take up to two years.
However, international concern about the circumstances of Qaddafi's death and indecision over what to do with his remains overshadowed what was to be a joyful day. Qaddafi's body has been on public display in a commercial freezer in a shopping center in the port city of Misrata, which suffered from a bloody siege by regime forces during the spring.
The 69-year-old was captured wounded, but alive Thursday in his hometown of Sirte as it became the last city to fall to revolutionary forces. Bloody images of Qaddafi being taunted and beaten by his captors have raised questions about whether he was killed in crossfire as suggested by government officials or deliberately executed.
An autopsy completed Sunday in Misrata showed that Qaddafi was killed by a shot to the head, said Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman al-Zintani. He would not disclose further details or elaborate on Qaddafi's final moments, saying he would first deliver a full report to the attorney general.
Most Libyans weren't concerned about the circumstances of the hated leader's death, but rather were relieved the country's ruler of 42 years was gone, clearing the way for a new beginning.
"If he (Qaddafi) was taken to court, this would create more chaos, and would encourage his supporters," said Salah Zlitni, 31, who owns a pizza parlor in downtown Tripoli. "Now it's over."
Libya's interim leaders are to formally declare later Sunday that the country has been liberated. The ceremony is to take place in the eastern city of Benghazi, the revolution's birthplace.
The long-awaited declaration starts the clock on Libya's transition to democracy. The transitional leadership has said it would declare a new interim government within a month of liberation and elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months, to be followed by votes for a parliament and president within a year.
The uprising against the Qaddafi regime erupted in February, as part of anti-government revolts spreading across the Middle East. Neighboring Tunisia, which set off the so-called Arab Spring with mass protests nearly a year ago, has taken the biggest step on the path to democracy, voting for a new assembly Sunday in its first truly free elections. Egypt, which has struggled with continued unrest, is next with parliamentary elections slated for November.
Libya's struggle has been the bloodiest so far in the region. Mass protests quickly turned into a civil war that killed thousands and paralyzed the country for the past eight months. Even after revolutionary forces captured the capital Tripoli in late August, a fugitive Qaddafi and his supporters fought back fiercely from three regime strongholds.
Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte was the last to fall last week, but Qaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, apparently escaped with some of his supporters.
Libya's acting prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, who has said he plans to resign after liberation, said Libya's National Transitional Council must move quickly to disarm former Libyan rebels and make sure huge weapons caches are turned over in coming days. The interim government has not explained in detail how it would tackle the task.
Jibril told the British Broadcasting Corp. in comments to be broadcast Sunday that "at the personal level I wish (Qaddafi) was alive" so he could face questions from the Libyan people buckling under decades of his harsh rule.
Jibril said he would not oppose a full investigation under international supervision into Qaddafi's death.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Photos of the week 22 Photos
- Graphic video: Man dead in "truly shocking" London attack Play Video
- London brutal attack probe nets additional arrests
- Bangladesh slum life 13 Photos
- French soldier stabbed in throat outside Paris
- Inside a Bangladesh garment factory 10 Photos
- Toronto mayor: I don't smoke crack cocaine
- NKorean envoy delivers letter to China's president
I also ask CBS to run a feature story on the little-discussed meeting in 1910 on Jekyll Island, Georgia. It is widely known that this meeting was conducted in absolute secrecy. Come on, you're a journalist. Ask youself this question: if the bankers who attended that meeting in 1910 had nothing to hide, then WHY the secrecy? I'll tell you why - because if the American people discovered that the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was in actual fact conjured up by Warburg, Rockefeller, Rothschild and Morgan (who at the time represented some 25% of the world's wealth), it would not have been passed at all. Of course, it helps having JD Rockefeller's father-in-law, Senator Nelson Aldrich, in charge of pushing the bill through Congress! What's even more ironic is that the same men behind the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank were responsible for instigating the Panic of 1907 which precipitated the government's apparent need for a Federal Reserve to even be started!
Come on CBS, lift the lid. Do I have to do your research for you?
The Federal Reserve is about as Federal as Federal Express. The sooner the American public realize this, the better. Since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, there have been more wars and economic failures than at any time in recorded human history. You do the math. Come on.
The ONLY presidential candidate espousing the economic benefits of ending the Federal Reserve is being completely IGNORED by CBS News. Why is that? If you were doing an investigative report on the quality of a certain product, and you realized that every single product was the SAME except for ONE product which stood apart, why wouldn't you analyse this product and find out why THAT product was different from the rest?
The mere thought of Herman Cain becoming president is absurd. Why? Because the Federal Reserve Bank is directly responsible for America's economic collapse (and Cain was used to work for the Federal Reserve), so to put a Fed member in charge of running the country would be like putting a Fox in charge of guarding the hen-house.
In short, put on your big-boy pants CBS and give Ron Paul some proper air-time. If you truly are a patriotic center for journalistic integrity, examine Executive Order 11-110 and relate it to USA debt. You will quickly join the dots.
Supporting Evidence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFYBcxy_0s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmNa1TYeIC0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hx_4mBZBjk&feature=related
Concerned,
Perry White
27 years old
Brisbane, Australia
B. Economics
B. Commerce
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8844646/World-power-swings-back-to-America.html
Hillary Clinton has played a nefarious role in this whole sordid affair.A couple of days earlier she has told the rebels to 'capture or kill " Gaddafi.And after he was successfully butchered by the thugs she gloated " We came,we saw,and he died " !!! Now ,with her usual disingenuity she says she wants a NATO investigation of the murder of Gaddafi.Thus,one of the murderers will probe the murder.This incident will certainly make the Arabs hate the Americans all the more.
Better to care about the thousands who died because of him.