Libya after Gaddafi - Friday 21 October

• Confusion over exactly how Gaddafi died
• Burial of dictator delayed; hundreds queue to view body
• Libyan PM to announce liberation of country tomorrow
• Nato meeting to wind down military campaign
• Saif al-Islam still missing; was Mutassim executed?
Read a summary of today's key events
A girl carries a TV with a drawing of Muammar Gaddafi in Martyrs Square, Tripoli, Libya
A Libyan girl carries a TV with a drawing of Muammar Gaddafi as Libyans gather for prayer at Martyrs Square, Tripoli. Photograph: Francois Mori/AP

8.19am: Welcome to Middle East Live on the first day of the post-Gaddafi era in Libya. To take stock of what has happened, we start with a Q&A on the killing of Gaddafi, what it means for Libya, and what happens next?

How did Muammar Gaddafi die?

Gaddafi was trying to flee Sirte in a convoy of cars when it came under attack from French Nato jets. The convoy was then caught in a gun battle with fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council.  Wounded in the shoot-out, Gaddafi was reported to have crawled into a drain. He was then attacked by fighters loyal to the new government, one of whom beat him with a shoe. 

Video emerged [warning: graphic content] which appeared to show him alive. Later photographs [warning: graphic content]  appeared to show his corpse with a bullet wound to his temple.

Abdel-Jalil Abdel-Aziz, a doctor who accompanied Gaddafi's body in an ambulance as it was taken from Sirte, said he died from two shots, to the head and chest.

Libya's interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said Gaddafi died from a bullet wound to the head received in crossfire between government fighters and his own supporters after he had been captured in Sirte. Gaddafi had been alive when he was taken from Sirte but died a few minutes before reaching hospital, he claimed.

Where is Gaddafi's body? 

The body was taken to Misrata. DNA samples have been taken.
 

Who else was killed?

One of Gaddafi's sons, Mutassim, died of multiple bullet wounds. Jibril said Mutassim was wounded in the head, and had five bullets in the back and one in the neck. Abu Bakr Yunis, Gaddafi former Libyan defence minister, was killed in the attack on the convoy.

Who is still at large?

Confusion surrounds the fate of Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. Some reports say he has been killed, some say he has been injured, others say he is still on the run.  

Who has been captured?

Mansour Dhou, Gaddafi's military commander, who led the defence of Sirte, is recovering in hospital in that city after being shot in the stomach.  Other senior figures reported captured include: Moussa Ibrahim, Gaddafi's spokesman; Ahmed Ibrahim his cousin and education minister; and Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief.

How will Gaddafi be remembered?

The Guardian's obituary of Gaddafi says: 

Once the hurricane of the Arab democratic revolution began to blow, nothing seemed more obvious – or fitting – than that he, cruellest, most capricious and ruinous of Arab dictators, should be among the first three to be swept away.

What has been the reaction to his death?

Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's acting prime minister: "We confirm that all the evils plus Gaddafi have vanished from this beloved country. I think it's for the Libyans to realise that it's time to start a new Libya, a united Libya, one people, one future."

Barack Obama: "The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted".

Hillary Clinton's initial reaction caught on video: "Wow."

David Cameron: "People in Libya today have an even greater chance, after this news, of building themselves a strong and democratic future."

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general: "Clearly this day marks a historic transition for Libya. Yet let us recognise immediately that this is only the end of the beginning. The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges."

What happens now?

The death of Gaddafi and the fall of Sirte opens the way for national elections scheduled to take place eight months after "full liberation" had been achieved.

Nato is meeting today to discuss ending its campaign over Libya.

Gaddafi's death leaves Libya at a crossroads, writes the Guardian's foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall:

The post-Gaddafi road ahead for Libya is fraught by any estimate. Tens of thousands may have died in the war; the numbers could take years to verify. Many more again have been wounded, both fighters and civilians caught up in the violence. Already these maimed survivors are attacking the NTC for its failure to bring them speedy relief.

A power struggle now threatens to destabilise Libya, writes our diplomatic editor, Julian Borger: 

The bigger threat now is likely to be the prospect of splits among the victorious factions – the NTC leaders who first raised the banner of revolt in Benghazi at the start of the year, the Misrata militia who did much of the fighting, lost the most people and see themselves as the deserving "Spartans" of the new Libya, and the fighters from the Nafusa mountains in the west, who tipped the balance against Gaddafi in August.

9.01am: Warning: graphic content. New footage from the Global Post shows a bloodied Gaddafi clearly alive after his capture.

Those around him can be heard shouting, "Don't kill him! Don't kill him! We need him alive!" throughout the footage, it says.

9.06am: New footage of Gaddafi's son Mutassim appears to show that he too was very much alive after being captured.

The clip shows his vest stained with blood as he touches a wound on his neck.

A later video [warning: graphic content] showed Mutassim's dead body on a stretcher.

9.20am: Libyan authorities are planning a secret burial of Gaddafi within the next few hours, according to the BBC.

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into Gaddafi's death amid widespread disbelief at the National Transitional Council's claim that Gaddafi was caught in crossfire.

Human Rights Watch has also called for an investigation. It said:

The [National Transitional] Council should also investigate the circumstances leading to the death of Gaddafi, including whether he was killed while in detention, which would constitute a serious violation of the laws of war. Human Rights Watch called on the NTC to set up an internationally supervised autopsy to establish Gaddafi's cause of death.

9.29am: Like the Guardian, many of the world's newspapers carried graphic images of Gaddafi's dead body on their front pages today, as our new gallery shows.

Roy Greenslade reviews how the British papers covered the story.

It is one of those days when a single story dominates the news agenda - the death of Libya's ruler, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

And it is therefore fascinating to see how the national newspapers' front pages - the choice of picture, headline and overall presentation - reflect their own agendas.

Most editors chose big images of a badly injured and bloodied Gaddafi moments before his death, though the Daily Express and Daily Star - counter-intuitive as usual - used only small pictures.

The Independent (and its sister, i) tried that most difficult of tricks by running four video grabs to illustrate the drama of Gaddafi being dragged from a truck. Headline: "End of a tyrant."

The Daily Telegraph and The Sun selected the same picture of Gaddafi on top of the truck. But the headlines were very different. The former chose "No mercy for a merciless tyrant" while the latter preferred the more personalised and vengeful "That's for Lockerbie."

9.39am: Libya's new government may be heeding that call for a full autopsy.

Reuters tweets:

Live blog: Twitter

FLASH: Burial of slain Libyan leader Gaddafi has been delayed "for a few days" - NTC official

Earlier officials indicated that Gaddafi would be buried today in line with Islamic tradition.

9.50am: There's been an interesting reaction among leading figures in Zimbabwe and South Africa, where Gaddafi enjoyed some support, David Smith in Johannesburg points out.

He forwarded this statement from the Congress of South African Trade Unions condemning what it sees as "imperialist triumphalism".

The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns the way in which the world's media is displaying gruesome images of the dead body of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. This triumphalism is an example of imperialist barbarism at its worst.

And, the GlobalPost quotes retired major Cairo Mhandu, an MP for Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, as saying:

This is a sad day for the people of Africa. This is the beginning of a new recolonisation of Africa.

Through the forces of Nato and the west, we have lost one of our brothers. Muammar Gaddafi won elections and was a true leader. It is foreigners who toppled him, not Libyans. Gaddafi died fighting. He is a true African hero.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

10.09am: Where is Saif al-Islam?

Reports surrounding the fate of Gaddafi's most recognisable son, wooed by some in the west for his perceived reformist credentials prior to the war, remain confused. He earned notoriety during the civil war for a number of vituperative messages aimed at his father's opponents.

Here is a summary of the various reports concerning his fate.

He was attempting to flee Sirte and was being encircled by government fighters, National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters on Thursday.

Another NTC official, Abdelmajid Saif al-Nasr, told al-Jazeera on Thursday that Saif was last known to have been in the area of Bani Walid and was believed to be "in the desert" around the town.

Saif was wounded as he tried to flee Sirte and was detained by NTC fighters, an al-Arabiya correspondent reported. But earlier al-Arabiya reported that he had been killed on the same day as his father.

He was left seriously injured by an RAF Tornado bombing strike on Sirte, the Daily Mail suggested.

At one point on Thursday, Channel 4 News's Jonathan Rugman tweeted that Saif was killed in a Nato airstrike near Bani Walid "a few days ago", citing a Whitehall source. But the tweet was later taken down.

10.16am: The UN's human rights office is now also calling for an investigation into Gaddafi's death, AP reports.

A spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights says shaky amateur videos showing a captured Gaddafi first alive, then dead, were "very disturbing".

Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva on Friday that an existing UN panel investigating human rights abuses in Libya would likely examine the death. He says it might recommend a national or international probe.

Colville says the victims of Gaddafi's despotic 42-year-rule deserve to see proper judicial procedures followed and perpetrators of abuses brought to trial.

Both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also called for an investigation.

Meanwhile, a doctor who examined Gaddafi's body said he was killed by a bullet in his intestines, Reuters reports.

"Gaddafi was arrested while he was alive but he was killed later. There was a bullet and that was the primary reason for his death; it penetrated his gut," doctor Ibrahim Tika told Al-Arabiya television. "Then there was another bullet in the head that went in and out of his head."

Tika, who also examined Gaddafi's son Mutassim after he was killed on Thursday, said his findings indicated he had died after his father.

"[As for] Mutassim, there was an injury, a big opening in the area above his chest and directly under his neck. There were three injuries from the rear in his back and at the back of his leg and there was a shrapnel but it was a few days old in his leg," Tika said.

10.25am: As Nato meets to consider the future of the Libya campaign, France said it considers the mission completed.

AFP quoted foreign minister Alain Juppe as saying:

I think we can say that the military operation is finished, that the whole of Libyan territory is under the control of the National Transitional Council and that, subject to a few transitory measures in the week to come, the Nato operation has arrived at its end.

The operation must now conclude because our objective, which was to accompany the forces of the National Transitional Council in the liberation of their territory, has now been reached.

10.46am: The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Tripoli, reports that the Libyan fighters who captured Gaddafi (and possible killed him depending on which version of events you believe) are refusing to hand over his body to the NTC. The NTC have come under pressure to hold a full autopsy, amid the controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death.

11.03am: Middle East expert Juan Cole, who was opposed to the Iraq war but backed Nato's Libya campaign, is optimistic about the post-Gaddafi era despite the inevitable factionalism and power struggles. In a post on his blog he writes:

Those who expect Libya now to fragment, or to turn into a North African Baghdad, are likely to be disappointed. It is improbable that Gaddafi's cult will long survive him, at least on any significant scale. Libya has no sectarian divides of the Sunni-Shiite sort. Almost everyone is a Sunni Muslim. It does have an ethnic divide, as between Arabs and Berbers. But the Berbers are bilingual in Arabic, and are in no doubt as to their Libyan identity. The Berbers vigorously joined in the revolution and more or less saved it, and are very likely to be richly rewarded by the new state.

The east-west divide only became dire because Gaddafi increasingly showed favouritism toward the west. A more or less democratic government that spreads around the oil largesse more equitably could easily overcome this divide, which is contingent and not structural.
Libyan identity is not in doubt ...

Oil states most often generate enough employment not only for their own populations but for a large expatriate work force as well. Just as the pessimists were surprised to find that post-Gaddafi Tripoli was relatively calm and quickly overcame initial problems of food, water and services, so they are likely to discover that the country as a whole muddles through.

11.06am: Gaddafi's death does not seem to have done much to unify the various political factions in Libya. Middle East commentator Sultan al-Qassemi has been tweeting details of an interview given by Sabri Malek of the Libyan Democratic Party to BBC News on Friday morning, in which Malek had strong words for Mahmoud Jibril, the interim president.

Here are some of the quotes:

Twitter icon

The NTC is set up by Mahmoud Jibril, ally of Gaddafi for ten years, he's not a democrat

The Libyans don't trust him. He was imposed on us by the west.

Mahmoud Jibril should resign today but he doesn't want to resign.


The last sentence is a reference to his assertions that he would step down.

Tensions had already been brewing for a while. The Guardian's diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, has written about the potential for splits between the victorious factions that brought about Gaddafi's downfall.

Abdel Hakim Balhaj, the leader of the Tripoli Military Council, has previously warned that Islamists should not be excluded from political process in the new Libya. And Jibril had already been the subject of some unrest.

11.16am: Reuters has more on the Nato meeting today expected to phase out the alliance's mission in Libya now Gaddafi is dead and his last stronghold Sirte has fallen.

Nato officials and diplomats told the news agency that a decision to gradually wind down the mission was expected to be taken at a meeting of ambassadors of the 28 Nato nations in Brussels starting at 3.30pm BST. The decision would be based on recommendations from Nato military commanders.

One Nato diplomat told Reuters:

It's likely they will decide to end the operation, but they will probably decide to do that over the next two weeks or so.

But a Nato official said some air operations would continue for the time being. "Certainly surveillance will continue as we need to continue to monitor the situation."

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said today: "Clearly the operation is coming to its end."

William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said yesterday Gaddafi's death brought the end of the operation "much closer", but added: "I think we will want to be sure there are not other pockets of pro-Gaddafi forces still able to threaten the civilian population."

Philip Hammond, the British defence secretary, said today the mission seemed to have come to an end but no one could say their might not be a few pockets of resistance here and there.

"If the cause of the threat to the civilian population in the form of Gaddafi is out of the picture, or if his forces no longer control any part of Libyan territory, that would normally mean that operations should stop," said Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies thinktank.

"It certainly would be very difficult to sustain them vis-a-vis the UN security council resolution ... in this case it would become impossible to justify."

11.17am: Sky News is reporting that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is heading south towards Niger.

11.19am: Saif update from Reuters:

Twitter icon

Flash: Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam fleeing south towards Libya's border with Niger - NTC

11.22am: A Nato official has told the Associated Press that commanders were not aware that Muammar Gaddafi was in the convoy that was struck yesterday by missiles fired from a French warplane, after which Gaddafi was captured and then killed.

"The convoy was a clear military target," said the official. "We later learned that Gaddafi was in the convoy. Therefore the strike likely contributed to his capture."

11.34am: Activists say protesters pouring into Syria's streets are cheering the death of Gaddafi. This morning security forces at a checkpoint shot dead two people in the central city of Homs, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The death of Gaddafi appears to have reinvigorated Syria's protesters, who say President Bashar Assad's regime will be the next to unravel. Protesters carried signs that read: "We congratulate Libyan rebels for the victory." Dozens also were seen marching in the Damascus suburb of Douma, chanting slogans calling on Assad to resign. The Local Co-ordination Committees, which monitor protests in Syria, said a "massive demonstration" in Daraa today was "congratulating Libyans" and calling for the toppling of the Assad regime.

11.34am: Al-Jazeera's James Bays reports that the NTC says it will announce "national liberation" on Saturday. He says the announcement will be made from Benghazi, the base for the NTC throughout the civil war. The council had said that they would declare the liberation of Libya after Sirte fell.

11.45am: We reported earlier that Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief, had been captured. Reports differ, with some sources telling Sky News Senussi has escaped to Niger.

12.04pm: The Associated Press has more on the delayed burial of Muammar Gaddafi's body.

Libyan officials told the news agency the burial would be delayed until his death could be further examined and a decision had been made about where to inter the body.

The NTC had said it would bury the body today, in accordance with Islamic tradition. However, they seem to have changed their minds, perhaps in the face of questions from the UN human rights office and others over exactly how Gaddafi died.

Mahmoud Shammam, the NTC's information minister, said the body was still in Misrata, where it was taken after he was found in his hometown of Sirte. Shammam said revolutionary forces were discussing where it should be buried.

Shammam's account of Gaddafi's death echoes that of Mahmoud Jibril, the prime minister (see 8.19am). It is thought Gaddafi's convoy was hit by a Nato air strike near Sirte and Gaddafi and others escaped to a drainage pipe. Jibril said Gaddafi was taken out, shot in his right arm "when we started moving him", and put in a truck, which moved away, at which point he was "caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces" and shot in the head. He died before reaching hospital, Jibril said.

Shammam also said the former leader was killed by a bullet to the head and died in an ambulance on the way to a field hospital. He was already injured from battle when he was found in the drainage pipe in Sirte, Shammam said, adding:

It seems like the bullet was a stray and it could have come from the revolutionaries or the loyalists. The problem is everyone around the event is giving his own story.

If Jibril and Shammam's version is true, it is unclear at what point Gaddafi, still alive, was manhandled onto the bonnet of a car, and paraded around by a crowd of fighters, apparently in Sirte, before his body was rolled around in the street, and then paraded on a car through Misrata, as mobile phone video footage shows.

12.06pm: Anti-government protesters in Syria have been celebrating the death of Gaddafi and warning Bashar al-Assad that he will be next.

In the town of Taftanaz in northern Syria protesters waved flags of the Libyan interim government.

In this video, also from the northern province of Idlib, a placard is held up an showing cartoon images of Gaddafi and Assad with an equals sign in between.

12.38pm: Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister, has just been speaking about the death of Gaddafi. He said: "At the end of the day the credit is to the Libyan people themselves."

He said he had been a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq but was a staunch backer of the Libyan campaign.

12.39pm: Officials in Tripoli accept that the confusing circumstances of Gaddafi's death will have be investigated, Ian Black reports from the Libyan capital.

An official told him that the revolution was about law and that nobody is above the law. Ian said:

There is an awareness that this issue will have to be looked into. The circumstance of his death are, at the very least, confusing and ambiguous. I think we will see the rebel government sounding co-operative about this. But there are very few people who will be shedding a tear about the circumstances of his demise. We will have to be aware of that difference between international expectations and the mood here.

On the question of what to do about Gaddafi's body, Ian said:

[Gaddafi's burial] is not going to take place any time today, and is being delayed. It is combination of two things: one is the question of international interest in the circumstances [of his death]. More important is the real concern that if he is buried publicly that his grave becomes a site of pilgrimage or probably more likely that it would become the object of acts of revenge and desecration. People are making very macabre jokes.

Ian adds:

There is a distinct morning-after feeling [in Tripoli]. There were tremendous scenes of jubilation last night. People are taking things slowly today. There is no public political activity.

NTC want to avoid Gaddafi"s grave becoming a rallying point, Ian Black reports from Tripoli (mp3)

On what happens next, Ian says:

What's going to happen now is that Mustafa Abdul Jalil is going to make that declaration [of liberation] tomorrow in Benghazi. That is causing some annoyance. There is political unease around the issue of the declaration coming from Libya's second city rather than Tripoli, the formal capital. There's a sense that it is time for the revolution to move to the capital.

It is going to be an important moment, because that [declaration] triggers the timetable for the enormous changes that now have to take place now that the Gaddafi regime has been completely defeated. The start of far reaching reforms will transform this country, over the next few years, beyond recognition.

12.45pm: Here is a video of Hillary Clinton speaking about Gaddafi's death.

Here Alison Cole asks what this means for the international criminal court.

Peter Walker discusses what will happen to Gaddafi's body here.

And here is today's Guardian leader column on Libya in Arabic.

12.46pm: This appears to be Nato's euphemistic confirmation that it hit Gaddafi's convoy.

It said its jets hit "11 armed vehicles" in vicinity of Sirte [pdf].

12.47pm: Here is a gallery of pictures of Libyans celebrating Gaddafi's death.

1.00pm: The New York Post's front page on Gaddafi's death today seems to have outdone the world's media for crassness.

Its headline is: "Khadafy killed by Yankee fan."

1.06pm: The Egyptian website al-Ahram has pictures of Libyans injured during the civil war, many of them in wheelchairs, celebrating at the New Kasr El-Aini teaching hospital in Cairo, where they are recuperating.

Mohamed Abu Fanas, a biology student, was fighting alongside the rebels in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte when a missile hit his left foot, shattering every bone.

The 21-year-old has already gone through one surgery and will be getting surgery to re-grow the bones in his foot soon. He hopes to be back in Libya by mid-November.

"Gaddafi used to say he would chase us out of every 'zenga' or alley, but we're the ones who ended up taking him out of a sewer ... My family called me from Libya congratulating me," he said with tears in his eyes. "We can't believe it finally happened. The martyrs must be proud."

Waleed Ahmed Mostafa, a 31-year-old whose leg was blown off by a missile in the city of Misrata's Tripoli Street, circled around the hospital room in his wheelchair waving Libyan and Egyptian flags.

"I don't care that I lost my leg," he said. "Others lost their lives. As long as Gaddafi is gone I don't care what happens to me any more."

1.12pm: The Associated Press has more from Nato on the bombing of the convoy near Sirte that led to Gaddafi's capture and death.

Nato has said the air strike yesterday morning was aimed at a convoy of around 75 armed vehicles leaving Sirte. One vehicle was destroyed, resulting in the convoy's dispersal.

Another jet then attacked around 20 vehicles that were driving fast towards the south, destroying or damaging about 10 of them.

"We later learned from open sources and allied intelligence that Gadhafi was in the convoy and that the strike likely contributed to his capture," a Nato statement said.

Nato's secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, says the end of the Libyan campaign "has now moved much closer". He has also hailed the success of the mission, saying that it demonstrated that the alliance continues to play an "indispensable" role in confronting current and future security challenges.

1.12pm: It appears that Syria is not the only country where protests have been energised by the death of Gaddafi.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom tweets:

Twitter icon

Eyewitnesses say tens of thousands in Sana'a's Change Sq today, many chanting "Where is Gadhafi? Oh Saleh, learn from history" #Yemen

Eyewitnesses say another chant heard in Change Sq today is "Saleh..look at where Gaddafi is now. His forces could not save his life" #Yemen

1.24pm: It is a problem faced again and again by rebels and opposing armies, and now by Libya's interim government – when a dictator is killed, what do you do with the body? writes Peter Walker.

Peter Walker

The initial plan was for him to be buried at an undisclosed location early on Friday, in keeping with the Muslim imperative for quick funerals.

However, an official from the National Transitional Council said this would now be delayed while an outside organisation, possibly the international criminal court, was summoned "to go through the paperwork" surrounding Gaddafi's death ...

Fighters are currently guarding Gaddafi's body inside a large cold store in an old market area of Misrata. A witness told Reuters that much of the blood had been washed from the remains, which bore a bullet hole in the side of the head as well as a large bruise and scratch marks.

Live blog: recap

1.42pm: Here is a lunchtime summary.

It is still unclear exactly how Muammar Gaddafi died. Nato says it bombed a convoy near Sirte yesterday, unaware that Gaddafi was a part of it (see 1.12pm). This seems to have led to Gaddafi and others escaping into a drainage pipe. After this, the picture becomes unclear. Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's prime minister, said Gaddafi was taken out of the pipe, shot in his right arm "when we started moving him", and put in a truck, which moved away, at which point he was "caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces" and shot in the head. He died before reaching hospital, Jibril said (see 12.04pm). If Jibril's version is true, it is unclear at what point Gaddafi, still alive, was manhandled onto the bonnet of a car, and paraded around by a crowd of fighters, apparently in Sirte, before his body was rolled around in the street, and then paraded on a car through Misrata, as mobile phone video footage shows. A doctor who examined Gaddafi's body said he was killed by a bullet to his intestines, and was also shot in the head (see 10.16am).

Gaddafi's burial has been delayed while the circumstances of his death are examined. The Guardian's Ian Black, who is in Tripoli, said officials in the Libyan capital accept that some kind of investigation will have to take place (see 12.39pm). The UN high commissioner for human rights says a UN panel investigating abuses in Libya is likely to look into how Gaddafi died, and might recommend a national or international investigation (see 10.16am). Both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also called for an investigation. The National Transitional Council, Libya's new government, have also delayed the burial because they are also concerned about his grave becoming a site of pilgrimage or desecration. The NTC had originally said Gaddafi would be buried today in accordance with Islamic tradition. There are also reports that the Libyan fighters who captured or killed Gaddafi are refusing to hand over his body (see 10.46am).

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the NTC, is to announce the liberation of the country tomorrow in Benghazi. That will trigger the start of enormous reforms and democratic changes that, in Ian Black's words "will transform this country, over the next few years, beyond recognition". There is some controversy about this announcement taking place in Benghazi, the base of the rebellion, rather then the Libyan capital Tripoli. Tensions are brewing between the various factions that helped bring about Gaddafi's downfall (see 11.06am).

Nato is meeting today and is expected to announce the phasing out of the Libyan mission now Gaddafi is dead and his last stronghold of Sirte has fallen (see 11.16am). One Nato diplomat said: "It's likely they will decide to end the operation, but they will probably decide to do that over the next two weeks or so." Air operations will continue for the time being.

Celebrations continue in Libya after the death of the former dictator. Mohamed Abu Fanas, who was injured fighting Gaddafi's troops in Sirte, said: Gaddafi used to say he would chase us out of every 'zenga' or alley, but we're the ones who ended up taking him out of a sewer ... We can't believe it finally happened. The martyrs must be proud." (See 1.06pm.)

There are reports that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the late dictator's most high-profile son, may now be either on his way to or in Niger, along with Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief (see 11.45am). Earlier reports had suggested Senussi had been captured. Mystery also surrounds how exactly Gaddafi's son Mutassim died, after footage appeared showing him alive after his capture (see 9.06am).

In Syria and Yemen, protesters are chanting that the death of Gaddafi should come as a warning to their own despotic rulers (see 12.06pm and 1.12pm).

1.51pm: Al-Arabiya has yet another report on the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

#BreakingNews: Saif el-Eslam is captured in Zlitin: Libyan rebel

It says there are pictures to come.

At this stage this should be treated with caution. In the last 24 hours, al-Arabiya's Twitter feed has carried a number of conflicting reports about Saif's fate.

Two hours ago it said he had fled to towards Niger, citing an NTC official.

This morning it said Saif was wounded and detained, citing one of its correspondents.

Yesterday it said Saif's death had been confirmed. And that his corpse had been taken to Misrata hospital.

1.58pm: Luke Harding looks ahead to plans for elections and a new constitution in Libya. Here's an excerpt:

Luke Harding byline.

The National Transitional Council envisages the creation of a directly elected interim assembly with 200 representatives.

This new assembly or council will then have the job of drafting a constitution. The constitution is likely to establish Libya as a democracy, with a new parliament, and with Islam enshrined as the state religion, as well as human rights and an independent judiciary.

The constitution will be put to a popular referendum.

Under the current schedule new constitutional elections will not take place until the summer of 2013. The model is similar to that of neighbouring Tunisia – which is currently holding elections to an interim body following its own revolution earlier this year.

But some observers believe the 20-month timetable is too slow, and could fuel political instability and intra-regional tensions. Before it can hold next summer's poll the NTC also has to reorganise itself and to bring in Islamist elements and other factions not properly represented.

Unlike in Egypt, where opposition parties and underground politics survived during the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, there was no effective opposition to Gaddafi's rule. Independent civil society, free expression and political debate did not exist – though all have blossomed in the giddy months since Libya's revolution began in February, accelerating with the fall of Tripoli in August.

2.09pm: Speculation about the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi continues.

Live blog: Twitter

Sky Sources: Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam thought to be near Algerian border in town of Ghat

Jenan Moussa, a reporter from Dubai based Al Alan TV, reports:

Seif El Islam wounded,caught by fighters.Seems he won't b killed. #NTC:We'll show Seif al-Eslam's picture after bandaging his wounds. #libya

2.52pm: This picture purporting to be of Gaddafi's death certificate has been posted online by @FreeBenghazi.

Gaddafi death certificate

It was reportedly issued by Misrata hospital.

3.05pm: A brief video clip has been posted online of Mutassim Gaddafi looking relaxed and smoking a cigarette in the same bloodied clothes he was wearing when he died, which was captured in other videos (see 9.06am).

The latest video may raise questions about the circumstances of his death. Interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril said of Mutassim:

There is a wound in the head and a break in the skull and five bullets in the back and one in the neck.

3.23pm: Saif al-Islam is attracting the most attention but some details have emerged about the fates of other members of Gaddafi's family.

The Jordanian website al-Bawaba news reports that Gaddafi's daughter Aisha, who has been called the "Claudia Schiffer of north Africa" because of her glamorous looks, has been hospitalised in Algeria after falling ill when she watched her father being captured and paraded around on television.

Jenan Moussa, reporter for Dubai-based al-Aan TV, said Aisha called her father's phone on Thursday, which was answered by Misrata fighters, who she screamed at and called "rats".

Gaddafi's wife, Safiya, has asked the United Nations to investigate her husband's death.

Sfiya, Aisha, and Aisha's brothers Hannibal and Mohammed fled to Algeria in August.

Another son, Saadi, who fled to Niger in September, tried to agree a deal on behalf of his father 10 days ago, Sky News is reporting today. Saadi, a former footballer, reportedly tried to negotiate with the NTC in September in an attempt to negotiate his surrender and a transition of power to the rebel leadership.

3.28pm: Nato's top commander says he will recommend the end of the alliance's Libya mission.

Admiral Jim Stavridis made the announcement today before a meeting of the alliance's North Atlantic Council in Brussels.

Stavridis called it "a good day for Nato, a great day for the people of Libya."

There will be a press conference from the Nato meeting in Brussels in the next hour.

According to Reuters, Muammar Gaddafi's body is being kept in "an old meat store" while Libya's new leaders decide what to do about his burial.

Reuters has seen the body. The news agency writes: "With a bullet wound visible through the familiar curly hair, the corpse shown to Reuters in Misrata bore other marks of the violent end to a violent life that was being broadcast to the world in snatches of grainy, gory cellphone video."

Reuters seems sceptical about Mahmoud Jibril's account of Gaddafi's death, saying: "The interim prime minister offered a tale of 'crossfire' to explain the fallen strongman's death." Many assume he was "summarily shot", the agency says.

Addul-Salam Eleiwa, a commander of the Misrata fighters who brought Gaddafi's body to the city, showed the corpse to Reuters. He said it would be treated with respect and buried within a day, as per Muslim custom.

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.

According to Reuters, interim oil minister Ali Tarhouni says he hopes he might be made prime minister next week as part of the transition to democracy. Tarhouni said he thought the eight month period mooted for the transition might be optimistic, though.

3.32pm: WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE. Here is a picture of Muammar Gaddafi's body in storage in Misrata.

Liberation front page

3.41pm: In January when Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fell in Tunisia the French newspaper Liberation had a bold front page (left) asking who would be next. It featured a mugshot of a crossed-out Ben Ali next to pictures of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, Algeria's Abdelaziz Boteflika, Muammar Gaddafi, Syria's Bashar al-Assad, and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh didn't feature on the graphic.

Updated versions on a similar theme have been widely circulated since yesterday. They including a cartoon featured on Middle East Institute's blog of a crossed-out Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi next to images of Assad and Saleh looking worried.

The blog Haley Bureau features this picture of Gaddafi alongside Mubarak and Saleh, with pictures symbolising their subsequent fates.

The caption reminds us that Saleh is still clinging to power after surviving a bomb attack on his palace in June.

The cover of Time magazine used the imagery when Hitler and Osama Bin Laden were killed, the Middle East Institute points out.

3.51pm: Here is an article on Yemeni protesters taking encouragement from Gaddafi's death.

3.56pm: US predator drones were involved in the attack on Gaddafi's convoy, according to Wired magazine Danger Room blog.

Early Thursday, a 100-car convoy suspiciously rolled out of the besieged Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte. You might think that was an odd decision: Nato spy planes — and warplanes — have been patrolling the skies over Sirte for weeks for signs, meaning a huge vehicular processional would immediately be spotted and targeted. That's exactly what happened.

Pentagon officials pled ignorance on Thursday when asked if any US aircraft were involved in the strike that disabled Gaddafi's convoy. Later in the day, they disclosed that a Predator indeed struck a convoy near Sirte, but didn't say if it was Gaddafi's convoy.

As it turns out, it was. A Predator released Hellfire missiles on the convoy. Joining it in the strike: at least one French Mirage-2000, according to France's defence minister, Gerard Longuet. So much for the tired stereotype of the French as wimps. As some other enfant de la patrie once said: L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace.

The airstrikes didn't kill Gaddafi. They disabled the convoy, allowing rebel fighters to descend on vehicles as they scattered from the column.

4.17pm: The Russian foreign minister has criticised the attack by Nato on Gaddafi's convoy that led to his capture and death. Russia has long believed that it was duped into not vetoing the UN security council resolution for a no-fly zone in Libya. It believes Nato forces went far beyond their remit to protect civilians and took sides with anti-Gaddafi forces in a civil war. Sergei Lavrov said:

There is no link between a no-fly zone and ground targets, including this convoy. Even more so since civilian life was not in danger because it [the convoy] was not attacking anyone.

Former British diplomat turned anti-war campaigner Craig Murray is concerned about the coverage of Gaddafi's death and the NTC's "fantasy" that he was caught in crossfire.

The barefaced lie about Gaddafi being killed in the crossfire bodes ill for the openness, transparency and good government we can expect to see now in Libya. But today I am worrying about the effect on our society of human death as entertainment.

This murder is becoming the norm. It was a Nato air strike which took out Gaddafi's escaping convoy and first wounded him. Two days ago two teenage sons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical US/Yemeni cleric executed without trial last week, were executed by a US drone attack as they had dinner. They were aged 16 and 19. They had committed no crime I can find alleged against them. There has been no publicity.

All this killing brings triumphalist politicians smirking on our screens. We seem to have become as dehumanised as ancient Rome.

Amnesty International has just put out a statement saying that if Gaddafi was deliberately killed after being captured this would be a "war crime". Claudio Cordone of the humanitarian organisation said:

If Colonel al-Gaddafi was killed after his capture, it would constitute a war crime and those responsible should be brought to justice. Investigating whether or not his death was a war crime might be unpopular. However, the NTC must apply the same standards to all, affording justice even to those who categorically denied it to others.

If the NTC cannot guarantee an independent and impartial investigation, the ICC or UN should do it, Amnesty says.

His son Mutassim's death should be similarly investigated, Amnesty says.

4.21pm: Here's a story on Syrian protesters taking heart from Gaddafi's death regarding their own struggle against a despotic ruler.

4.32pm: In a televised interview (in Arabic), Gaddafi's cousin and former bodyguard has claimed that it was Gaddafi's son Mutassim and not the dictator himself who was running the war. Sporting a black eye, Mansour Dao, who was captured with Gaddafi, also cast doubt on the account of Nato airstrikes against the dictator's convoy. From Channel 4 News:

"Gaddafi was not running the battle, his son Mutassim was … As I told you, Mutassim was running the battle and not Gaddafi, and he was the decision maker about any move," he [Dao] said …

Dao described no aerial attack whatsoever, and instead talked about "heavy, heavy gunfire from the rebels, all around; they had us circled."

Gaddafi's cousin added that their convoy was not escaping from Sirte, as has been widely reported, but rather was heading for the very village where he [Gaddafi] was born in the Jarif Valley near Sirte: Jahannam, "hell" in Arabic.

"Gaddafi did not run away, and he did not want to escape," Dao said.

"We left the area [we were staying] towards Jarif, where he comes from. The rebels surrounded all the neighbourhood, so we had heavy clashes with them and tried to escape towards Jarif and break off the siege.

"After that the rebels surrounded us outside the area and prevented us from reaching the road to Jarif.

"They launched heavy raids on us which led to the destruction of the cars and the death of many individuals who were with us.

"After that we came out of the cars and split into several groups and we walked on foot, and I was with Gaddafi's group that includes Abu Bakr Yunis and his sons and several volunteers and soldiers.

"I do not know what happened in the final moments, because I was unconscious after I was hit on my back."

4.45pm: BBC News says hundreds of people are queuing in Misrata to see Gaddafi's body.

4.52pm: Reuters has put up a video about what happens next in Libya politically.

4.57pm: A video has been posted online of an interview said to be with the man who discovered Gaddafi. Enduring America has translated it:

Q: When you first stormed him at the hole, step by step, and tell me exactly.

A: We were close to the sea. [Caption: the area of Assides, west of Sirte, close to the coast, with many storage facilities.] Our brigade was going to support Tiger Brigade, the Al-Gheryan brigade.

Q: From where did you enter? From the industrial area?

A: ... We saw around 15 people; our freedom fighters went and captured them. And we advanced towards the storage facilities ... and we saw people running left and right. At that time, we were standing on top of the hole where Gaddafi was hiding.

We saw another two people hiding and fired on them ... Our colleague went down and he killed two of them ... Later on, we went to the other side and four or five ran out from under the road. And they surrendered themselves and they told us Gaddafi is hiding inside and is injured.

When we entered the hole, I saw his bushy head, and I captured him immediately. Then all the fighters came and surrounded him.

When we captured him, we found this handgun with him. And another gun in a bag, which is still with our colleague in Sirte. This is the gun and this is the Thuraya phone.

Put them on the table so that anyone who wants to can film it. This blood on the gun is Gaddafi's.

5.15pm: Al-Jazeera is leading its news bulletin with a claim that Gaddafi was captured unharmed. Reporter Tony Birtley said that according to sources and human rights groups the ousted dictator was then placed on a car and driven through the streets but fell off and was injured. He said Gaddafi was then kicked and punched. We cannot verify the report at this time.

Live blog: recap

5.17pm: Here is an evening summary.

It is still unclear exactly how Muammar Gaddafi died. Nato says it bombed a convoy near Sirte yesterday, unaware that Gaddafi was a part of it (see 1.12pm). This seems to have led to Gaddafi and others escaping into a drainage pipe. After this, the picture becomes unclear. Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's prime minister, said Gaddafi was taken out of the pipe, shot in his right arm "when we started moving him", and put in a truck, which moved away, at which point he was "caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces" and shot in the head. He died before reaching hospital, Jibril said (see 12.04pm). If Jibril's version is true, it is unclear at what point Gaddafi, still alive, was manhandled onto the bonnet of a car, and paraded around by a crowd of fighters, apparently in Sirte, before his body was rolled around in the street, and then paraded on a car through Misrata, as mobile phone video footage shows. A doctor who examined Gaddafi's body said he was killed by a bullet to his intestines, and was also shot in the head (see 10.16am). Al-Jazeera is claiming he was unharmed when captured (see 5.15pm). The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that Nato did not have the right to attack Gaddafi's convoy because it was not threatening civilians (see 4.17pm).

Gaddafi's burial has been delayed while the circumstances of his death are examined. The Guardian's Ian Black, who is in Tripoli, said officials in the Libyan capital accept that some kind of investigation will have to take place (see 12.39pm). The UN high commissioner for human rights says a UN panel investigating abuses in Libya is likely to look into how Gaddafi died, and might recommend a national or international investigation (see 10.16am). Both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also called for an investigation. The National Transitional Council, Libya's new government, have also delayed the burial because they are also concerned about his grave becoming a site of pilgrimage or desecration. The NTC had originally said Gaddafi would be buried today in accordance with Islamic tradition. Hundreds of people are queuing up in Misrata to see Gaddafi's body, and that of his son Mutassim, lying in a meat storage container.

Video clips have emerged showing Mutassim wearing a bloody vest, looking relaxed and smoking; lying holding his neck in the same clothes; and dead in the same clothes, leading to speculation he was executed after being captured (see 3.05pm).

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the NTC, is to announce the liberation of the country tomorrow in Benghazi. That will trigger the start of enormous reforms and democratic changes that, in Ian Black's words "will transform this country, over the next few years, beyond recognition". There is some controversy about this announcement taking place in Benghazi, the base of the rebellion, rather then the Libyan capital Tripoli. Tensions are brewing between the various factions that helped bring about Gaddafi's downfall (see 11.06am). Intirim oil minister Ali Tarhouni says he hopes to be the next prime minister (see 3.28pm).

Nato is meeting today and is expected to announce the phasing out of the Libyan mission now Gaddafi is dead and his last stronghold of Sirte has fallen (see 11.16am). Nato's top commander, Admiral Jim Stavridis, said he would recommend the end of the alliance's Libya mission (see 3.28pm).

Celebrations continue in Libya after the death of the former dictator. Mohamed Abu Fanas, who was injured fighting Gaddafi's troops in Sirte, said: Gaddafi used to say he would chase us out of every 'zenga' or alley, but we're the ones who ended up taking him out of a sewer ... We can't believe it finally happened. The martyrs must be proud." (See 1.06pm.)

There are reports that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the late dictator's most high-profile son, may now be either on his way to or in Niger, along with Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief (see 11.45am). Earlier reports had suggested Senussi had been captured. Other reports suggested Saif might be near an Algerian border town, or had been captured (see 2.09pm).

In Syria and Yemen, protesters are chanting that the death of Gaddafi should come as a warning to their own despotic rulers (see 4.21pm and 3.51pm).

Live blog: substitution

5.53pm: This is Jo Adetunji, I'll be taking over the live blog this evening.

As questions remain unanswered about how colonel Gaddafi came to be killed, reporters are now speaking to those who were immediately around him when he died. Channel 4 News' Lindsey Hilsum has been speaking to Omram Sheibani, who was the first to see Gaddafi.

Live blog: Twitter

I spent today with the brigade which caught #Gaddafi. They say he was alive when they put him in an ambulance.

Hilsum also tweets of the first moment Sheibani spotted Gaddafi. "I dropped my Ak47 and jumped on top of him", he said.

6.27pm: Al Arabiya says it has obtained a copy of a draft resolution on illegal arms smuggling from Libya which was scheduled to be discussed by the UN Security Council on Friday.

The document refers to the trade of weapons and missiles that have been stolen from Gaddafi's store and subsequently sold in Tunisia and Egypt, which has raised fears that they will end up in the hands of terrorist groups like al-Qaida and armed Palestinian groups.

Of particular concern is the proliferation man-portable and surface-to-air missiles.

In September Nato and the US pressed the National Transitional Council to make securing these weapons a priority. A number of NGOs told the Guardian in September that they believed anti-tank missiles had been looted from stores and smugglers were already trading scores of weapons.

Ian Black

6.50pm: Ian Black, the Guardian's Middle East editor has collected a few more reactions from people in Tripoli celebrating the first day of life in Libya without Gaddafi:

Martyrs Square in the heart of Tripoli has seen many celebrations since the revolution in August, but the mood now is different. There was jubilation, certainly, but a sense too that something even more profoundly liberating has taken place.

Libya's first day without Muammar Gaddafi was one for angry reflection about the past, optimism for the future, and a feeling that the ripples of his violent death will embolden those still fighting tyranny on the other fronts of the Arab spring.

Residents of the capital seemed both elated and exhausted after a night of unfettered joy at Thursday's news from Sirte about the demise of the man who dominated this country for more than 40 years.

"In the beginning of the revolution, we believed that the fall of the tyrant would just take a day or two, then a week or two, and then a month or two," said Sheikh Hamza Abu Faris, his elegant classical Arabic interrupted by calls of "Allahu Akbar" and salutes to the martyrs that echoed off the ramparts of the Ottoman citadel where the "brother leader" used to harangue the crowds.

"I am happy Gaddafi is dead," grinned Abdullah Ali, a scrawny teenager hawking cigarettes under the Italianate arcade on the side of the square, where revolutionary memorabilia are displayed on wooden stands.

"It's a bit strange actually," admitted Hatem, a driver. "Gaddafi had been there all our lives. He forced people to love him. And now he's really gone."

Zakaria Bishti, an IT expert, recently returned home from California to find a different Libya to the one he left 13 years ago. "I can see the difference since the revolution," he said. "People are looking to the future. Now they feel that they will benefit from all the oil we sell, that they can live better lives."

Businessman Omar Miftah, squatting on the pavement in a white robe as he listened to the sheikh's sermon, was blunt about the meaning of what had happened: "Without Gaddafi," he pronounced, "things can only get better."

6.57pm: Ian Black also adds that worshipers in Martyrs Square this afternoon were turning their attention to the situation in Syria and the news of more killings of protesters under Bashar al-Assad. He said there were cries of "Syria, Syria" as prayers ended.

"Bashar al-Assad will be next, inshallah [god willing]," gloated Jamal Swissi from Souk al-Juma'a, drawing a finger across his own neck in a sharp and unmistakable slicing gesture.

Khalid Ojla, a visiting member of the opposition Syrian national council – his political sympathies evident from his long beard and robe – was delighted by the display of solidarity from Tripoli. "The Syrian opposition will feel stronger now," he predicted.

"Perhaps Bashar will think again now that he has seen what happened to Gaddafi. Maybe he didn't sleep well last night."

7.16pm: This live blog is now finishing for the evening. As Libyans celebrate their first day without Gaddafi, there are still unanswered questions surrounding his death and that of his son Mutassim, and the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam. The full evening summary is here.

We have switched off comments on this old version of the site. To comment on crosswords, please switch over to the new version to comment. Read more...