Muammar Gaddafi Killed In Libya.

Libya's ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.

The circumstances of his death are not yet clear. Video has emerged purporting to show Col Gaddafi being captured alive and bundled on to a truck.

Fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) said they found him hiding in a hole, and shot him when he tried to escape.

Col Gaddafi was toppled in August after 42 years in power.

The NTC now plans to officially announce Libya's "liberation" before indicating the next steps towards democratic elections.

Golden gun

After a day of conflicting reports and rumours, the NTC's acting prime minister Mahmoud Jibril told a news conference: "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed."


Al-Jazeera TV broadcast footage it says showed Col Gaddafi's body

World leaders welcomed the news, urging the NTC to carry through its promise to reform the country.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who had taken a leading role in Nato's intervention, said it was "a day to remember all of Col Gaddafi's victims".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it a "historic" moment, but warned: "The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges."


Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among NTC fighters and then broadcast by international news channels.

The first videos showed a bloodied corpse, with some channels picking up footage they said showed the colonel's body being dragged through the streets.

An NTC fighter told the BBC he found Col Gaddafi hiding in a hole in Sirte, and the former leader begged him not to shoot.

The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.

Arabic TV channels showed images of troops surrounding two large drainage pipes where the reporters said Col Gaddafi was found.

Later, another video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive - BBC.