Muammar Gaddafi’s death was due to a fatal wound to the head when the ousted dictator was being taken to a hospital after his capture, the de facto Libyan prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said.
Gaddafi, 69, who had ruled Libya for 42 years, was captured by National Transitional Council (NTC) soldiers near his home town of Sirte on Thursday. Later he was shot and died of wounds. The details of his capture and death are still not finally clear and are expected to be clarified on Friday.
NTC leader Jibril said Gaddafi had been shot in the head in crossfire between his supporters and NTC fighters after his capture.
"He was alive up to last moment, until he arrived at the hospital" in the town of Misrata, Jibril was quoted by Qatar-based satellite TV broadcaster Al Jazeera as saying.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," Jibril told journalists in the capital Tripoli.
Western leaders hailed the end of Gaddafi’s longtime tyranny, calling it a landmark event for Libya.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Gaddafi’s killing “an outrage,” describing the dictator as “a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr.”
