Libyan forces 'capture Gaddafi'
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Sirte: "I saw one man with very blood-stained clothes saying that he was the person (who killed Col Gaddafi)"
Commanders for Libya's transitional authorities say they have captured ousted leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Unconfirmed reports say Col Gaddafi has been killed, and AFP obtained a mobile-phone image apparently showing his face covered in blood.
The reports came after transitional forces claimed control of Sirte, Col Gaddafi's birthplace.
The colonel was toppled in August after 42 years in power. The International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday that hit two pro-Gaddafi vehicles near Sirte.
The head of the National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Abdul Jalil is expected to give a national TV address soon.
Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam says fighters on the ground have told him that Col Gaddafi is dead.
'Don't shoot!'Earlier, another NTC official told Reuters news agency: "He's captured. He's wounded in both legs."
At the scene
If the reports of Col Gaddafi's capture are true, then Mohammed al-Bibi is the man of the moment. Brandishing a golden pistol which he said belonged to Colonel Gaddafi he was hoisted up onto the shoulders of his comrades.
"Allah akbar" (God is great), they chanted as they unleashed volleys into the air. Mohammed, a fighter in his 20s, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, said he had found the colonel hiding in a hole in the ground. He told the BBC that the former Libyan leader said to him simply: "Don't shoot".
Rebel fighters say the colonel has been taken by ambulance to Misrata. If this is the case and the rest of Sirte has indeed fallen then it will mark a turning point for Libyan revolution - the point at which it will be hoped, the fighting ends and the political process begins.
"He's been taken away by ambulance."
AFP news agency quoted another NTC official, Mohamed Leith, as saying that Col Gaddafi had been captured in Sirte and was "seriously wounded" but still breathing.
A soldier who says he captured Muammar Gaddafi told the BBC the colonel had shouted: "Don't shoot!"
But NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters news agency that the former leader had been shot in the head and killed as he tried to flee.
Reuters also quoted another NTC commander, Abdul Hakim al-Jalil, as saying that Col Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim had been captured and the head of his armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr, had been killed.
None of the reports has been independently verified.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says ships and cars have been sounding their horns in the capital and guns are being fired in celebration.
Earlier, NTC commanders in Sirte - about 360km (220 miles) east of Tripoli - said the city had been liberated.
An image from a mobile phone apparently showing Col Muammar Gaddafi wounded
"There are no Gaddafi forces any more," Col Yunus al-Abdali told Reuters. "We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away."
There was no confirmation from the NTC leadership.
But fighters in Sirte celebrated by firing in the air, and chanting "Allah akbar" ("God is great").
Interim government forces had been facing heavy resistance from snipers in the city, and used heavy artillery during its offensive. Thousands of civilians have fled.
The NTC has also suffered heavy casualties in the town of Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli, in recent weeks.
On Monday the NTC said it had captured 90% of the town, including the centre.
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Comment number 99.
cjtsmith6 Hours ago
32.Steve said
"Nothing to do with us at the beginning of the conflict and nothing to do with us now"
Or to quote Chamberlain in 1938, it is 'a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing'.
Are you saying we shouldn't care if foreigners live under a wretched tyranny when some people in the UK are a bit poorer than they would like to be? Get some perspective ...
Link to this (Comment number 99)
Comment number 98.
Total Mass Retain6 Hours ago
"ichabod
Yet on elderly care last week or Europe, what do we get on HYS? Zippo."
In the past day alone there have been 3 HYSes on Europe.
Link to this (Comment number 98)
Comment number 97.
makar - thread killer6 Hours ago
Steve
Nothing to do with us at the beginning of the conflict and nothing to do with us now, i am bored of Gaddafi and Libya when we ignore problems in our day to day lives here in the uk---
Well if you're bored of it then it isn't worth reporting. What are you doing on the BBC, surely you should read the S*n or something that likes making up new and fresh stories to keep the simple minded happy.
Link to this (Comment number 97)
Comment number 96.
Apetime6 Hours ago
Wonder how long it will take for Islamic extremists to label the new government puppets of the west.
We decided that civilians who opposed him should receive our protection from his tanks yet we labeled his supporters at the end militia and so did not protect them from the rebels tanks.
He was king hornet now every tribal leader will want to be the new top dog.
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Comment number 95.
Athame576 Hours ago
Reports are coming in that he's dead.....I just saw a convincing photo on an American news site.
Link to this (Comment number 95)
Comment number 94.
FleetingWords6 Hours ago
@ 42. NoBigDeal "Democracy, peace and freedom will rule"
By "Democracy" do you mean Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange? I don't think that's what they mean by "rule of the people".
Link to this (Comment number 94)
Comment number 93.
Puck6 Hours ago
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
Link to this (Comment number 93)
Comment number 92.
ichabod6 Hours ago
Why on earth are we having an HYS so suddenly on this. The facts are not yet clear. Let's at least wait until we have corroboration.
Yet on elderly care last week or Europe, what do we get on HYS? Zippo.
Mind you the story yesterday on trafficked children was a joint BBC/Guardian story, so enough said.
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Comment number 91.
Mark6 Hours ago
Now we need to work out how to remove people like Gadaffi and Mugabe from power without waiting for 42 years!
Link to this (Comment number 91)
Comment number 90.
Akeem6 Hours ago
This marks a second great revolution for libyans. The people's plight must be heard.
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Comment number 89.
Poddy1006 Hours ago
There won't be peace, because if the people that get in the power are not the ones some people were fighting for then you will have more trouble. Like IRAQ
Link to this (Comment number 89)
Comment number 88.
soarerman02646 Hours ago
Good news that he has been captured.
Now lets get on with sorting out the problems in our own country.
Im sure there are going to be thousands of old age pensioners shivering in there unheated houses this cold evening.
Link to this (Comment number 88)
Comment number 87.
david6 Hours ago
As usual, the BBC is about two hours behind the curve.
He's died of his wounds - didn't Sky or CNN tell you..?
Link to this (Comment number 87)
Comment number 86.
SPEEDTHRILLS6 Hours ago
Iraq - Tick. Libya - Tick. That leaves regime change in Yemen, Syria, Iran, Somalia, Zimbabwe and why not Ecuador ? The Big Global Society and the UK taxpayer will fund it just as they will the rebuilding of a country we just knocked flat cos we didn't like its leader. Brilliant !
Link to this (Comment number 86)
Comment number 85.
sir_andy6 Hours ago
The usual 'I take my freedom for granted' sheeple are out in full force, hoping the ICC will 'hold Gaddafi to account'. For the record, there has been absolutely ZERO evidence to suggest Gaddafi is behind anything despots like Obomber say he is. This narrative stinks of Western corruption and tyranny. When will a WHITE, WESTERN leader be thrown into the ICC? Never, you bunch of phoney hypocrites.
Link to this (Comment number 85)
Comment number 84.
locust6 Hours ago
bbc mods who obviously 'islamic flavour/favour' are deleting any posts that say the gaddafi's death is a good thing!
do you think that in libya the bbc in its current political form would have been allowed to operate?
Link to this (Comment number 84)
Comment number 83.
Howard Freeborn6 Hours ago
dead... or Reuters claim
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Comment number 82.
Benyamin Aussie6 Hours ago
Everyone think everything will be fine after that, just thinking of Saddam Hussein, before that Iraq was poor but a secure place now poor and insecure and Libya will be have same future.
Link to this (Comment number 82)
Comment number 81.
yottskry6 Hours ago
@Steve: Nice, selfish attitude. A country is liberated from a disliked and tyrannical leader, and you're more concerned with your own humdrum existence in a country that, despite its many failings, is democratic and peaceful.
Link to this (Comment number 81)
Comment number 80.
Vormulac6 Hours ago
"The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says ships and cars have been sounding their horns in the capital and guns are being fired in celebration."
How can she tell? "Gosh, that bullet sounded so much more celebratory than the other four hundred that have whistled past my ear in the last 24 hours..."
"............yyyyyYYYYYYiiiipppeeeeeeeee..............."
Link to this (Comment number 80)
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