Dubai: Muammar Gaddafi is dead. And the people are free. They now face a new future, free from 42 years of repression unleashed by their leader.
Celebratory gunfire rang out across Libya as the Arab Spring claimed its third leader, after Tunisia's Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. But the 69-year-old strongman became the first leader to be killed in the wave of uprisings sweeping the Middle East since December last year.
As photographs of the bloodied and bullet-riddled body of Gaddafi were televised around the world, the National Transitional Council (NTC) prepared to announce the final liberation of Libya.
"We announce to the world that Gaddafi has died in the custody of the revolution," NTC spokesman Abdul Hafez Ghoga said after fighters overran the dictator's home town and final bastion.
Accounts of the final hours of Gaddafi are hazy. But Abdul Jalil Abdul Aziz, a doctor who was part of the medical team that accompanied the body in the ambulance to Misrata, said Gaddafi died from two bullet wounds to the head and chest.
Gaddafi was shot and wounded in Sirte and died in an ambulance en route to Misrata, said Misrata Military Council spokesman Fat'hi Bashagha.
Body paraded
Later, Al Jazeera TV showed video footage in which Gaddafi was captured alive, but was later shot by a man. Photos showed bullet wounds between the eyes and the left side of the head.
The body was then paraded through the streets of the nearby city of Misrata on top of a vehicle as Libyans celebrated the end of a rule during which human rights were routinely abused.
There were reports that one of Gaddafi's sons, Mutassim, was killed and the convoy of another son, Saif Al Islam, has been surrounded. Other reports said Mousa Ebrahim, former spokesman for Gaddafi, was captured near Sirte while the head of the armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr, has been killed.
Gaddafi, who proclaimed himself king of kings of Africa and Dean of the Arab leaders, was known for his erratic and bizarre personality. He was known for his unusual statements, colourful long clothes and his big tent.
Gaddafi, who at the beginning of the revolution described his opponents as "rats", had faced an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last June for committing crimes against humanity. The warrant died with him.
Ironically, during his speech at the Arab Summit in Damascus in March 2008, Gaddafi criticised the Arab leaders for not "investigating the execution of ousted Iraqi President Saddam [Hussain]" before adding, "Your turn is coming".
But Gaddafi did not see it coming.
