Last Words Gaddafi Heard Were Curses
The end of the Libyan dictator is proving just as controversial as his life. On one hand there are claims that if he was deliberately killed it was a war crime. Against that there is a general acceptance it was inevitable he would be killed by the rebels if they captured him alive.
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When Gaddafi was dragged out of a roadside drain by rebel troops he only had minutes to live. He was already wounded but could still walk. The dictator was punched and beaten as rebels took their revenge.
He was heard to protest that this was against Islamic law and asked his captors if they knew the difference between right and wrong.
It is characteristic of Gaddafi’s life that he should still be protesting the rightness of his cause to the end. Then came what may have been the last words he heard before he lost consciousness, a brutal retort telling him to - SHUT UP YOU DOG.
Gaddafi ruled by fear for 42 years, his prisons were full and ordinary Libyans learned to keep their heads down. But all around them in the Arab World, old dictatorships were falling and events in Egypt were the most dramatic as the Mubarak regime was overthrown.
But unlike Mubarak, Gaddafi would not be allowed to face his accusers in a courtroom. Minutes after being captured he was shot dead, most likely by his captors. Although the new rulers of Libya are claiming that he was killed in crossfire between his supporters and the rebels.
Body on display
That’s unlikely, Gaddafi’s son Mutassim was killed just as violently soon after being captured. He had been commanding the loyalists as they fought the last battle in Gaddafi’s home town. A video shows him sitting down calmly, talking to his captors, drinking a bottle of water and smoking a cigarette. Minutes later he was dead and his body was put on display in a freezer unit.
Several of Gaddafi’s sons did escape. His eldest son Muhammad surrendered to the rebels after Tripoli fell but he escaped and manged to get into Algeria. Saadi who signed as a professional football player for two Italian clubs escaped to the neighbouring state of Niger where he is safe. The Niger government says he will not be extradited if he faces a death penalty. Another son, Hannibal is also in Algeria and after he fled his laptop was discovered. It showed bank transfers totalling $25M to accounts in France, Panama and Tunis.
Of the other sons, Mutassim, who held talks with Hilary Clinton in 2009, is dead. So are Saif-al-Arab and Khamis, while Saif-al-Islam may have been captured.
The war marked the end of Gaddafi family rule. The beginning of the new Libya.
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