Gaddafi’s bloodied body lies in cold storage

MUAMMAR GADDAFI’S body lay in an old meat store in a shopping centre as arguments over a burial, and his killing after being captured, dogged efforts by Libya’s new leaders to make a formal start on a new era of democracy.

A bullet wound visible through his long, curly hair, the corpse in Misrata appeared to be an object of wrangling among the factions of fighters who overthrew him — along with control of weapons and of Libya’s oil wealth.

Libyans, and the Western allies who backed their revolt against Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, which ended two months ago, have indicated their impatience to begin what the United States declared was a democratic “new era.”

But regional and other rivalries were holding up the disposal of the corpse of Gaddafi, who was seized by fighters on Thursday, and a formal declaration of Libya’s “liberation.”

A failure to find Gaddafi’s son and heir-apparent, Saif al-Islam, left another loose end after Thursday’s surprise climax to eight months of war, when the 69-year-old fugitive was discovered hiding in a drainage culvert under a roadway.

Nato jets had halted a bid by a large armed convoy to break out of his last redoubt in his hometown of Sirte.

Controversy over the final moments of a man who once held the world in thrall with a mixture of eccentricity and violence continued, as more video emerged of him bloodied and beaten by his captors. It raised questions about the ability of the new leadership to control the men with guns, as well as discomfort for Western allies about respect for justice and human rights among those who claimed to be fighting for just that.

The interim prime minister has insisted Gaddafi was killed in “crossfire” while being taken to hospital, but few Libyans seem concerned that he was more probably, on the grainy evidence of mobile phone video, summarily shot on the spot.

Addul-Salam Eleiwa, a commander of the Misrata fighters who brought Gaddafi’s body to the city, whose resistance made it a symbol of courage for the rebels, said it would be treated with due respect and buried soon.

He reflected Muslim custom to inter remains within the day. “He will get his right, like any Muslim. His body will be washed and treated with dignity. I expect he will be buried in a Muslim cemetery within 24 hours.”

The body lay on a mattress in a cold storage plant formerly used for meat in Misrata’s old market area.

A senior military commander for the National Transitional Council said members of Gaddafi’s Gadhadhfa tribe were talking to the fighters to discuss the possibility of taking on the task of burying him — a procedure that would follow a tradition also recognised when Saddam Hussein was hanged in Iraq.

The NTC hoped that Gaddafi would be buried in secret to prevent the site becoming a place of pilgrimage.

The United Nations human rights office called for a full investigation into the death of Gaddafi and voiced concerns that he may have been executed.