Muammar Gaddafi killed as Sirte falls Former Libyan leader killed in apparent attempt to flee last bastion, but circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after
National Transitional Council fighters overran loyalist defences in the
toppled Libyan leader's hometown and final stronghold of Sirte.

But questions remained on Thursday over the circumstances of Gaddafi's death as footage
appeared to show he had been captured alive, following an apparent
attempt to flee the besieged coastal city in a convoy which came under
fire from French warplanes and a US drone aircraft.

Other footage showed Gaddafi's lifeless and bloodied body being dragged along a road.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar
Gaddafi has been killed," Mahmoud Jibril, the de facto Libyan prime
minister, told reporters on Thursday in Tripoli, the capital.

Asked what would be done with Gaddafi's body, he said: "It doesn't make any difference, as long as he disappears".

Crowds took to the streets of Sirte, Tripoli,
Misrata and Benghazi, the eastern city that spearheaded the uprising
against Gaddafi's 42-year rule in February, to celebrate the news, with
some firing guns and waving Libya's new flag.

"I'm so proud now," a Tripoli resident told Al Jazeera."It's a new era. Look to our eyes and you'll see happiness, finally".

Son killed

One of Gaddafi's sons, Mutmindim, was also killed on Thursday, having
been hiding with his father, Libya's information minister said. Earlier
reports had suggested that he had been captured alive but injured.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Sirte

"Mutmindim is dead. I can confirm it," Mahmoud Shammam told Reuters.

News of Gaddafi's death, weeks after NTC fighters effectively ended
his four-decades rule by capturing Tripoli, came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte after weeks of fierce fighting.

Fighters flashing V for victory took to the streets in pick-ups blaring out patriotic music.

"Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter said.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Sirte, said Libyans there were celebrating the beginning of a "new Libya".

"This is bringing a form of closure," he said. "Gaddafi stayed true to his words, that he would stay in Libya till the end.

"It was surprising to many that he did actually stay here in Sirte
- it's taken such a bombardment in the last 13 days. Nothing could
survive in here for very long. I think they were starved of food,
starved of ammunition, and finally there was nothing to do but to run".

French 'warning shot'

Gerard Longuet, France's defence minister, said French warplanes had
fired a warning shot to stop a convoy of vehicles carrying Gaddafi
before he was killed.

The convoy of several dozen vehicles "was stopped from progressing as
it sought to flee Sirte but was not destroyed by the French
intervention," Longuet told reporters.

Libyan fighters then intervened, destroying the vehicles, from which "they took out Colonel Gaddafi," he said.

A US defence official told AFP news agency that a US drone along with
a French fighter jet had attacked a convoy of vehicles in Libya that
the French believed was carrying Gaddafi.

In Tripoli, Jibril said he had received unconfirmed reports that
Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, was trying to flee from
Sirte but had been tracked down by NTC fighters who were attacking his
convoy. Later reports suggested that Saif had been injured and arrested.

Footage had emerged earlier in the day of the body of Abu
Bakr Younus, Gaddafi's defence minister, who also died in what would
become the last stand of the regime he served.

Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the NTC's 11th brigade, said that
Moussa Ibrahim, the former spokesman for Gaddafi's fallen
government, had been captured near Sirte. Ahmed Ibrahim, a cousin of
Gaddafi, was also reportedly captured.

'Historic transition'

Reaction from world leaders was swift, with Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, saying Gaddafi's death marked "a historic transition for Libya".

"In
the coming days, we will witness scenes of celebration as well as grief
for those who lost so much," Ban said in New York. "Now is the time
for all Libyans to come together. Libyans can only realise the promise
of the future for national unity and reconciliation."

NATO officials said the alliance's governing body would meet on
Friday to decide to end the seven-month bombing campaign over Libya.

"NATO and our partners have successfully implemented the historic
mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya,"
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

"We will terminate our mission in co-ordination with the United
Nations and the National Transitional Council. With the reported fall of
Bani Walid and Sirte, that moment has now moved much closer".

» Fighters mmind outside Sirte as Libyan interim leader asks Gaddafi men to surrender by Saturday or face military action.
» Gaddafi's death: World reaction UN chief Ban Ki-moon says deposed leader's death "marks a historic transition for Libya"
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