Gaddafi son found dead in Sirte

Mo’tassim Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s slain ruler, has been found dead in Sirte after National Transitional Council (NTC) forces overcame Gaddafi’s loyalists in the northern coastal city.

“We found him dead. We put his body and that of (former defence minister) Abu Bakr Yunis in an ambulance to take them to Misrata,” Mohamed Leith, an NTC field commander, told AFP on Thursday.

The development comes as the deposed Libyan ruler has died of injuries he sustained during his capture by revolutionary fighters in the northern city of Sirte.

“He was also hit in his head. There was a lot of firing against his group and he died,” an unnamed senior NTC military official said on Thursday.

There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

NTC field commander Mohamed Buras Ali Al-Maknee had earlier said that a group of fighters from the western Libyan city of Misratah captured Gaddafi in Sirte, who was injured in both legs.

The news of Gaddafi’s capture came shortly after revolutionary forces said they were in full control of Sirte after they finally triumphed over forces loyal to Libya’s Gaddafi.

Anti-Gaddafi troops were shown in television footage celebrating the fall of Sirte by shooting in the air as others tore up Gaddafi portraits.

NTC official Abdel Majid has also said that head of Gaddafi’s armed forces Abu Bakr Younus Jabr had been killed during the capture of Libya’s slain leader.