UPDATED: Reuters now reports that a captured, wounded Moammar Gadhafi has died of wounds that occurred when he was captured. This is on top of the Reuters website: “Breaking News: Libya’s Gaddafi dies of wounds suffered in capture near Sirte: NTC official”
Reuters Tweet:
FLASH: NTC official says head of Gaddafi’s armed forces Abu Bakr Younus Jabr killed during capture of Libyan ex-leader
AFP is distributing A CELLPHONE PHOTO HERE of what looks like a gravely wounded or dead Gadhafi.
But an important cautionary note: American news organizations are now careful to make sure they get confirmation from two primary sources. All reports so far are coming from several news sources — no confirmation from the State Department.
CBS now offers this report about Gadhafi’s death:
Unconfirmed reports of fugitive dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s death surfaced Thursday shortly after his hometown of Sirte fell to Libyan fighters.
National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid told Reuters news agency that Qaddafi was wounded and taken into custody while fleeing Sirte.
“He’s captured. He’s wounded in both legs … He’s been taken away by ambulance,” Majid told the news agency by telephone.
Reuters later reported that Qaddafi died of those wounds, citing a senior TNC military official.
The U.S. State Department could not confirm the reports.
News organizations have been burned too many times so they are seeking independent confirmation. MSNBC reports that while State Department officials can’t yet confirm the dictator’s capture one told a reporrter “It’s looking good.”
Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi was captured Thursday but his physical condition was unknown, Sky News reported, citing sources independent of the Transitional National Council.
Arab media including satellite TV channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya suggested Qaddafi may have been critically wounded, if not killed. Reuters news agency quoted a TNC official who said that Qaddafi died from wounds he sustained during his capture. Reuters earlier reported Qaddafi was detained near Sirte and was wounded in both legs.
TNC military commander Mohamed Leith told AFP, “He has been captured. He is badly wounded, but he is still breathing.” Leith added that he saw Qaddafi himself and that he was wearing a khaki uniform and a turban.
FOX News sources in Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte said that NATO forces struck a convoy as it left the town and revolutionary fighters then followed up with a ground attack on the convoy. It was unknown if Qaddafi was part of the convoy.
Here’s TMV’s original post on the breaking news that he was captured, along with the roundup:
Via USA Today: a wounded Moammar Gadhafi has been arrested — this ending a bloody chapter in Libya’s history. The operative question will now become: what comes next for Gadhafi — and Libya?
Reuters quotes Abdel Majid of the Libyan transitional government as saying that a wounded Moammar Gaddafi has been captured.
Update at 7:28 a.m. ET: Former Libyan minister of information Ali Errishi tells Al Jazeera that top officials in the National Transitional Council have confirmed Gadhafi’s capture.
The Reuters reports says that Gadhafi was wounded in both legs.
Al Jazeera quotes an NTC official as saying only that a “high-profile target” has been captured.
The report come as the transitional government says it has seized Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte.
Original post: Libyan TV channels are reporting the arrest of Moammar Qaddafi in his hometown of Sirte, Al Alibya reports. There has been no official confirmation.
MSNBC reports that the State Department can’t confirm it yet, but BBC is reporting it as well:
Commanders for Libya’s transitional authorities say they have captured former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
The news came after transitional forces claimed control of Sirte, Col Gaddafi’s birthplace. There was no independent confirmation of his capture.
Col Gaddafi came to power in Libya in 1969. He was toppled in an uprising that began in February.
The International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest.
“He’s captured. He’s wounded in both legs,” National Transitional Council (NTC) official Abdel Majid told Reuters news agency.
“He’s been taken away by ambulance.”
Ousted Libya leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been captured, a National Transitional Council official has claimed.
Abdel Majid told Reuters news agency the deposed dictator was wounded.
The senior NTC military official said: “He’s captured. He’s wounded in both legs … He’s been taken away by ambulance.”
However, with previous claims the leader and members of his family had been arrested or killed later proven false, the news was greeted with some scepticism.
Revolutionary fighters have captured deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Libyan television said Wednesday, citing the Misrata Military Council.
That report, however, could not be independently confirmed.
Horns blared and celebratory gunfire burst into the air in Tripoli.
“It’s a great victory for the Libyan people,” said Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam.
Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. A February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.
Earlier, anti-Gadhafi fighters said they had wrested control of the last holdout of loyalists in Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte. They said they were still battling pockets of resistance, but they were in control of the district.
Sirte has been the big prize for Libya’s National Transitional Council, waiting for the coastal city to fall to officially declare liberation.
CNN video reporting the anti-Gandhafi fighter’s victory in Sirte:
Muammar Gaddafi has been captured by revolutionary forces in Libya, it has been reported today.
Gaddafi and his family have been on the run since Nato and rebel forces started closing the net on Tripoli in mid-August.
Al-Arabiya TV station reported that the dictator had been killed while being captured, while other reports from say he was wounded in both legs.
The reports of Gaddafi’s capture came on the same day that revolutionary forces said that they had taken control of Sirte – the leader’s home town.
Initial reports from CNN and the National Transitional Council (NTC) said Gaddafi was in custody, while Al Jazeera reported that a ‘big fish’ had been caught but did not provide a name.
Sky News reported that Gaddafi had been wounded in both legs prior to his capture. He was wearing a military-style uniform.
A military official told Reuters via telephone: ‘He’s captured. He’s wounded in both legs … He’s been taken away by ambulance.
Libya’s transitional government forces have taken full control of the city – the last stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists.
Gaddafi’s presence there would explain why fighting had been so intense in the past few weeks.
Raw Video: Libyan Fighters Celebrate in Sirte:
LIVE: Rebels celebrating in Sirte:
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Clip from Morning Joe:
The search for the hiding Gadhafi has spawned cartoons such as this:
A collection of the enthusiastic orator Gadhafi’s quotes.
UPDATE: Here’s another take on this from the great Andy Borowitz:
ZANESVILLE (The Borowitz Report) – A grim chapter in the history of Libya came to a close today when fugitive dictator Muammar Gaddafi was mauled to death by an escaped tiger in Zanesville, Ohio.
At the Central Intelligence Agency, a spokesman stopped short of speculating how the Libyan strongman somehow made his way to the remote Ohio town, saying only, “We didn’t plan on Gaddafi being taken out this way, but a win’s a win.”
The tiger, a longtime Zanesville resident, is being flown to the White House where she will receive the Presidential Medal of Honor.
In a brief statement, President Barack Obama said, “Under my watch, we’ve killed both Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. That really should be enough to reelect me, especially if I’m running against a pizza man.
Go to the link to read the rest
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.