Qaddafi's last moments: "Don't shoot"

A Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter looks through a large concrete pipe where ousted Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi was allegedly captured, with a dead loyalist gunman in the foreground, in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte on October 20, 2011. Arabic graffiti in blue reads: 'This is the place of Qaddafi, the rat. God is the greatest.'

/ Getty Images

Updated 12:39 AM EST

Muammar Qaddafi's final day most likely began as it ended: In a squeeze. He was almost surely in the 700-square-yard area of Sirte where Libya's ex-rebels had penned in the die-hard forces remaining loyal to him.

The transitional government had for some time speculated that Qaddafi was out wandering the desert, recruiting fighters for a counter-insurgency. Therefore, at around 8 a.m., the ex-rebels where probably unaware that their ultimate target was actually within their grasp as they began an assault on that small final area. It was around that time that Qaddafi got in a convoy to flee, according to most accounts.

Somewhere just outside of the loyalist-held area, NATO aircraft struck Qaddafi's convoy, but didn't kill him. According to NATO officials, they were unaware Qaddafi was inside. That airstrike, however, hastened his demise.

The Telegraph's Ben Farmer visited the scene where Qaddafi's convoy was hit and the ex-dictator's final moments played out. He writes: "Colonel Gaddafi was finally cornered in a drain underneath a road in open countryside to the west of the city of Sirte. Rebels said a column of vehicles tried to punch out of an encirclement at dawn. They parked up around 3-4kms west of the town, which was hit by a NATO airstrike. Gaddafi and several bodyguards were then forced to take refuge in the drain where they were then captured and taken away by revolutionary forces."

Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters carry a young man holding what they claim to be the gold-plated gun of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi at the site where the latter was allegedly captured in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte on October 20, 2011.

/ Getty Images

An ex-rebel fighter named Mohammed, "a young fighter in his 20s wearing a blue t-shirt and a New York Yankees baseball cap," told the BBC he found Qaddafi hiding in the tiny drain pipe. The colonel allegedly looked up and said simply: "Don't shoot."

They didn't listen.

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There are conflicting reports about how and at whose hands exactly Qaddafi died. It seems pretty certain he was alive when first captured. Al Jazeera aired video (below) of what is almost surely Qaddafi's final moments. The once-mighty ex-dictator is seen soaked in blood, apparently disoriented, either being led around by or restrained by ex-rebels, who brandish guns as they yell at him and tug his hair, and he appears to yell back. Still other video taken later of his body being dragged around show him covered in blood everywhere, seeming to be bleeding from the head and other places. Reuters reports Qaddafi died around noon and that an ex-rebel official said Qaddafi died after capture in a firefight between his supporters and his captors.

The Associated Press reports: "One fighter says after the convoy was hit, it turned back and re-entered a compound, which was then attacked by several hundred fighters. He says they found Qaddafi there, and someone shot him with a pistol. But a spokesman for a local military council says fighters had surrounded the convoy and exchanged fire, before finding Qaddafi in one vehicle, wounded in the neck. The spokesman says Qaddafi bled to death from his wounds a half-hour later. Fighters said he died in an ambulance on the way to Misrata."

Still, others report a different ending.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that some claim Qaddafi's own bodyguard shot him, in order to spare him the indignity of being captured.

An ex-rebel named Salem Bakeer told Reuters that he and his comrades gave chase to Qaddafi and his small retinue of bodyguards after they fled their convoy following the airstrike.

"At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use," said Bakeer. "Then we went in on foot. One of Qaddafi's men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting surrender, but as soon as he saw my face he started shooting at me. Then I think Qaddafi must have told them to stop. 'My master is here, my master is here', he said, 'Muammar Qaddafi is here and he is wounded.' We went in and brought Qaddafi out. He was saying 'What's wrong? What's wrong? What's going on?'. Then we took him and put him in the car."

At the time of capture, Gaddafi was already wounded with gunshots to his leg and to his back, Bakeer said.

"They captured him alive and while he was being taken away, they beat him and then they killed him," an ex-rebel told Reuters. "He might have been resisting."

Ex-rebel Adel Samir told the Telegraph that Qaddafi was gunned down with a 9mm pistol, shot in the stomach. Imad Moustaf, another ex-rebel fighter, told Global Post Qaddafi had been shot in the head and the heart. Still other reports claim he was shot in the both legs.

Libya's interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said that Qaddafi was killed from a bullet to the head during crossfire between government fighters and his loyalists, The Guardian reported.

Qaddafi likely bound for "secret burial"

Sometime after Qaddafi was shot, freelance photojournalist Holly Pickett tweeted that she saw his body. Pickett says she was embedded with an ex-rebel ambulance, and spotted another ambulance packed with rebels speeding away from Sirte with Qaddafi's body.

"From the side door, I could see a bare chest with bullet wound and a bloody hand. He was wearing gold-colored pants," Pickett tweeted. "At every checkpoint between #Sirte and #Misrata, crowds had gathered and wanted to know if we were the ambulance with #Gaddafi's body in it. Upon hearing the truth, that #Gaddafi was truly dead, revolutionaries at the checkpoints were beside themselves, shouting with joy."

However his final moments may have actually unfolded, the numerous images of his body have already made the rounds on cell phones, computers and TV screens all over the globe, leaving little doubt that Libya's 42 years of Qaddafi's oft-cruel "Jamahiriya" rule is over.

Also captured and killed Thursday was Qaddafi's flamboyant fifth son - also his National Security Adviser - Mutassim Qaddafi, whom Libyans had claimed a week earlier was already captured. An ex-rebel spokesman said Mutassim was killed "resisting his captors," Reuters reports. Additionally, the BBC reports that ex-rebels captured his famed former security chief, Mansour Daw, who, it had been reported, fled to Niger.

According to Reuters, Qaddafi will have a "secret burial."

(Below is a graphic video from first aired on Al Jazeera showing what is apparently Qaddafi's last moments alive, following his capture by rebels.)

(Below is a graphic video from Global Post, captured on the mobile phone of 21-year-old Ali Algadi showing Qaddafi being dragged from his hiding place, bloodied and dazed. Those present shout repeatedly, "Don't' kill him! Don't kill him! We need him alive." .)

[doggydik]

this article left out the part where he was stabbed in the ********

[PC-Support999]

I in some TEN minutes at the day of gaddafi's death collected MUCH MORE TRUE info THAN THIS WRITA ABOVE HERE.

Gaddafi DID say "islam is the only religion" and CLUNG to fanatism as a last hope.

even so, the nazi, only SUDO-"muslim" brotherhood DID ACTUALLY CUT OFF GADAFI'S DICK and SHOOT HIM IN EACH KNEE BEFORE they JUST EXECUTED him and his last exactly 55 followers. !!!

why this writa above can't say stuff QUICKLAKE... i dunno.

[rwsmith29456]

They prevented a drawn out trial that probably would have ended in his death, but I think they sure could have done a neater job. His fate, however, has been shared by other dictators in history. Mussolini comes to mind.

[parrish903]

A very barberic ending to gaddafi's life. All I could here is alah akba. " god is Great" There was nothing great about the ending of a human beings life.It's a shame that the liberators of Lybia seem to be just as blood thirsty and violent as gaddafi was. That said, Momar had to go as he has killed thousands of inocent people.

[jlajherr]

It took W ten yrs and a trillion dollars and thousands of lives to get saddam... It only took Obama A few months and NO American lives to get Gadhafi.. Way to go O

[Overruled1]

Remember Lockerbie

[parrish903]

Obama did'nt get him, He just made the fight fair. The Lybians got him. That said, Obama got the big one,OSAMA. GO O

[jalewis815]

I think it's reprehensible to show actual video and pictures of his death and body. I know he was awful but no one should be treated that way. I think CBS should not have shown such a terrible thing. It seems you just want the shock value and that respect of the dead doesn't matter.

[parrish903]

I disagree. I wish they would show more of what war really is. Not for goulish reasons but becouse war is god awful and we as americans are being shielded from it's reality. If these wars were on t.v. every night like viet-nam was uncut and ugly Hopfully we would rise up and say no more . Hopfully we would use the powell docterine and hit with overwelming force and force a surrender by the enemy and end these terribly costly war's. Thanks for your comments and no dissrespect intended.parrish903

[ImaJWalker]

It was a Civil War. Similar to Catholic against Protestant. NONE of our business. NATO had no business over there. Do you think this has made the West safe? How?

Tallying the Death Toll of NATO's Vicious War on Libyan Civilians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKO7bvAWJfQ

The West has again illegally invaded another country. Who committed the war crimes and who is chanting about the losses in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya? For every man who lost a family in the middle east, you will see nothing but terror heading this way. Who's side are you really on?

[ImaJWalker]

Lets not forget the 600 Libyians that died in a boat because NATO deliberatly ignored their SOS and the other boat of 61, dead also.
So sad. Our local media never tells us about that. We have to go searching on the internet for it. Lest we should ever tell the truth.
But to level an entire country over one man?

[parrish903]

I agree to some extent, However we did not invade, We overflew and dropped ordinance on a millatary that was engaged in butchery on its own people that originally engaged in peacefull protest. I guess what I am trying to say is that we leveled the playing field. That said, You are rite, this is a cival war and we need to stay out of these things. We are not the police of the wourld. have you ever noticed that the United States only gets involved if there is oil? Darfur we did nothing, Sudan we did nothing, Somalia we cut and run, Syria we do nothing. We are hipocryts. No wonder no one likes us in the middle east.

[peachallie]

Ranger, thank you. The Americans killed by Gaddafi are ignored by the rabid right. It was OK to let Americans die to "take out" Saddam but when we help remove a monster the right STRIVES to find fault. Yes, he should been tried; still, the Libyans who suffered for 42 years did feel restraint was warranted, to put it mildly.

[americaforamericians]

we killed 160,000 civilians,figures given by the rebels months ago,now i would think over 200,000. nato 90% our money, troops and weapons, do you even have a clue as too why we are even there ? to save civilians we killed ?

[djseavy]

For the tree huggers who somehow think an injustice was done, we need to clean up the USA and stop all the coddling and worry that convicted terrorists and gang members have "their rights" and are treated as if they are somehow ill. The reason we have so much trouble here is that there is way too much concern about how we handle our criminals and enemies, and not nearly enough concern about keeping our society from ending up like a bunch of animals.

[americaforamericians]

i can see you don't have the first clue as too all that is going on ! The reason we have so much trouble here is that there is way too much concern about how we handle our criminals and enemies, and not nearly enough concern about keeping our society from ending up like a bunch of animals. WE ARE THE ANIMALS .

[dantom39]

Thank God it did not happen under Bush The leftstream media and democrats would have their panties all bunched up.

[peachallie]

If this had happened with the Bush boy in office the rabids would be giving him all the credit & celebrating the end of a TERRORIST who killed Americans at Lockerbie! NOW, Marco Rubio says this was a FRENCH & British mission. Suddenly, the French, who were derided during the Bush years, are given praise & American help ignored.