Mystery Continues to Surround Qaddafi’s Death

A member of Libya’s National Transitional Council on Sunday said that former leader Muammar Qaddaf’s death was a result of bullet wounds sustained when fighters captured his home town of Sirte on Thursday. The leader of the unit of Libyan fighters which captured Qaddafi said on Sunday that they did their best to keep him alive.

Omar Ahmed Al Shibani said his troops had come across the leader and his army chief hiding after NATO air strikes devastated their convoy attempting to escape Sirte. When he was caught, Qaddafi was armed with a Smith and Wesson weapon loaded with bullets, and two assault rifles nearby.

In the early hours of Sunday, a medical examination revealed that Qaddafi suffered one bullet wound in the left side of his head and one in his abdomen. Although it is clear that he died from the bullet wounds, much mystery continues to surround the circumstances of his death.

Al Shibani said, ''We handed him over to the ambulance and he was bleeding from his head and there was blood in his abdomen. But it was a matter of moments so we could not ascertain where exactly he was bleeding from, but it is clear from the pictures that there was blood on his clothes in the chest and abdomen area and blood dripping on his face but he was alive.”

In another video, shot later, Qaddafi is seen lying dead in an ambulance, somewhere between Sirte and Misrata.

The leader of Libya’s transitional government, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, declared the country liberated Sunday, three days after the capture and death of Qaddafi.