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NTC confirms Gaddafi's death

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Libya's ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in gun battles Thursday in his hometown, Sirte.

People in Tripoli, capital of Libya, show their jubilation as the news came that former leader Muammar Gaddafi has been killed in battle with NTC troops in Sirte. [Xinhua]

Acting Prime Minister of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mahmoud Jibril, confirmed his death at a press conference held in Tripoli.

Jibril, reading what he said was a post-mortem report, said Gaddafi was hauled unresisting from a "sewage pipe," Reuters reported. Later he was shot in the arm and put in a truck which was "caught in crossfire" on the way to hospital.

In pictures: Gaddafi's 42 years' rule

"He was hit by a bullet in the head," Jibril said, adding it was unclear which side had fired the fatal shot.

"This is a time to start a new Libya, with a new economy, with a new education and with a new health system -- with one future," BBC quoted Jibril as saying.

The pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV showed pictures of his corpse with eyes half-open, shirt torn apart and a bloodied face.

Jibril also announced that the NTC would announce the liberation of entire Libya later Thursday or Friday.

Earlier Thursday, Momhemed Buras Ali Al-Maknee, an NTC field commander, told Xinhua a group of fighters from the western Libyan city of Misrata captured Gaddafi in Sirte, who was then severely injured.

The Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV reported Gaddafi's corpse had arrived in Misrata.

Earlier, Al-Jazeera said NATO jets fired at a convoy of cars, possibly with Gaddafi onboard, fleeing Sirte.

The NTC troops and the people of the war-torn country celebrated as reports of Gaddafi's death filtered out, cheering and hoisting NTC flags, Xinhua reported.

The 69-year-old former leader, whose forces were driven from the capital Tripoli by the now ruling NTC on Aug. 23, had since been "leading resistance" against his foes from an undisclosed place in Libya, according to his spokesman.

On June 27, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity, and on Sept. 9, the international police agency, Interpol, issued a Red Notice for the three as requested by ICC.

Meanwhile, the NTC field commander told Xinhua that Gaddafi's son Mutassim was also killed in Sirte, several hours after his father's death. He had earlier said Mutassim was captured alive inside the town after NTC fighters overran Sirte's Number Two neighborhood where Gaddafi's loyalists had been cornered.

The commander also said NTC fighters had surrounded a place in Sirte where Gaddafi's second son, Saif al-Islam, was believed to be hiding.

The al-Jazeera TV footage also showed a body which it said belonged to Gaddafi's defense minister, Abu Bakr Younus.

Earlier Thursday, the network said NTC forces had reportedly overrun the last position held by troops loyal to Gaddafi in Sirte.

Worldwide reactions

Gaddafi's death has drawn mixed international reactions, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailing that it "marks a historic transition of Libya."

"Yet let us recognize 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," Ban added.

US President Barack Obama said it was a "momentous day" for Libya, "Today we can definitively say that the Gaddafi regime has come to an end."

The "dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted," and the Libyan people "now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny," he said.

He said the country had a "long and winding road towards full democracy", but the US and other countries would stand behind Tripoli.

In Brussels, a joint statement by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said Gaddafi's death "marks the end of an era of despotism and repression from which the Libyan people have suffered for too long."

"Today, Libya can turn a page in its history and embrace a new democratic future," it said.

The European Union called on the NTC to "pursue a broad-based reconciliation process which reaches out to all Libyans and enables a democratic, peaceful and transparent transition in the country."

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that the alliance "will terminate our mission," which was launched in March.

In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Gaddafi's death held out the promise of a better future for the people he ruled for four decades.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that Libya has turned a new page on its history and expressed the hope that Libya can launch an inclusive political transition process as early as possible, safeguard Libyan national solidarity and unity, regain social stability as soon as possible, and start economic reconstruction in order to enable the Libyan people to lead peaceful and happy lives.

In Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped peace would eventually arrive in Libya. "All those who represent this country, various representatives of Libyan tribes, will be able to reach a final agreement on a configuration of power, and Libya will turn into a modern political country," Medvedev said at a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Moscow.

"Otherwise, all the efforts taken recently are senseless," Medvedev said.

In New Delhi, visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe hailed Gaddafi's death as the "end of 42 years of tyranny."

"The announcement of the death of Gaddafi and the collapse of Sirte is the end of a very difficult period for the Libyan people. It's the end of 42 years of tyranny, of a military conflict that has been very difficult for the Libyan people," Juppe said.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota voiced hope Thursday that violence in Libya would end soon following Gaddafi's death.

"Brazil expects violence in Libya to stop, military operations to cease, and the Libyan people to be able to follow its aspirations and wishes in a spirit of dialogue and national reconstruction," Patriota said.

The foreign minister made the remarks while accompanying President Dilma Rousseff on a trip to Angola. The president, however, has yet to make an official statement on the issue.

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