Where is gadhafis body

But few Libyans are troubled about either how they were killed or why they were exposed to public view for so long. Islamic tradition dictates burial within a day. All Libyans must see him. The killing of fallen autocrats is far from a novelty -- in Europe in living memory, similar fates befell Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania in and Benito Mussolini, who had created modern Libya as an Italian colony a decade before he died in The burials have been held up by wrangling between the emerging factions within the National Transitional Council over where they should be interred.

NTC leaders want Gaddafi buried at a secret location so the place does not become a shrine. Gaddafi requested to be buried in Sirte in his will. But who fired the shot and when is still unclear. Two miles west of Sirte, there were three clusters of cars and pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns burned out, smashed and smoldering -- one group of 11 vehicles next to an electricity substation, three cars in a field and another cluster of seven pick-ups in another field.

They had clearly been hit by a force far beyond anything the motley army the former rebels has assembled during eight months of revolt to overthrow the once feared leader. Inside some of the trucks still in their seats sat the charred skeletal remains of drivers and passengers killed instantly by the strike. Other bodies lay mutilated and contorted strewn across the grass.

There were 95 bodies in all, many of them black Africans. Less than half were burned alive in the vehicles. Others appeared to have been killed, some of them cut in two, by heavy caliber guns from either an aircraft or from ground fire. Others still appeared to have been killed by fragmentation wounds, possibly from exploding rockets and ammunition in the pick-ups.

Government fighter Ahmed al-Masalati from Misrata said he was there. It shot at the group of 11 cars then made another pass and shot at other group at the north end who were held up in seven cars.

That account was confirmed by a Gaddafi prisoner on Friday, Jibril Abu Shnaf, who was captured not far from the convoy. I got in a civilian car and joined the end of the convoy. The bodies of ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and a top aide have been buried in secret in the desert, Libyan officials say. This follows days of apparent uncertainty among the new leadership about what to do with the bodies. Gaddafi's family wanted them buried outside the former leader's hometown of Sirte.

NTC leaders had expressed a preference for a secret burial. The footage, which was filmed at night, shows a group of men dressed in civilian clothes walking around three wooden coffins. A man is seen tucking in the traditional white cloth used to wrap bodies according to Islamic burial custom. They say it took place early on Tuesday. A few relatives and officials were in attendance and Islamic prayers were read. An NTC official had earlier told Reuters news agency that Col Gaddafi would be buried in a "simple" ceremony with "sheikhs attending" on Tuesday.