Gaddafi Might Be Buried At Sea

Libya's government has delayed Muammar Gaddafi's burial amid uncertainty about his final resting place and the circumstances of his killing. Oil minister Ali Tarhouni said the body of the ex-leader may be kept "for a few days". Under Islamic tradition burial should take place as soon as possible. The UN is seeking an inquiry into Col Gaddafi's death in Sirte on Thursday. Meanwhile Nato is expected to declare an end to its Libya campaign in the coming hours. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the death of Col Gaddafi meant Nato's military intervention had reached its conclusion. "Clearly the operation is coming to its end," he told reporters. Questions mounting The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says the authorities now have to decide how to deal with Col Gaddafi's death and in particular his burial. They have said they will conduct a secret burial and there is some speculation that they might even try to bury him at sea, as al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was buried, to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine, she adds.Mr Tarhouni told Reuters news agency that Col Gaddafi's body was not going to be released from a morgue in Misrata for immediate burial. "I told them to keep it in the freezer for a few days... to make sure that everybody knows he is dead," he said. Asked about the burial arrangements, he said: "There is no decision yet." Reuters also quoted an unnamed official as saying there was disagreement within the National Transitional Council (NTC) over what to do with the body. In a separate report, it quotes senior NTC commander Abdel Majid Mlegta as saying members of the colonel's tribe are in contact with anti-Gaddafi fighters to discuss the possibility of taking on the task of burying him. Meanwhile, questions are mounting as to exactly what happened in Col Gaddafi's last moments following his capture. Officials have denied he was executed.Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Col Gaddafi had been shot in the head in an exchange of fire between Gaddafi loyalists and NTC fighters following his capture in his hometown of Sirte Video footage suggests he was dragged through the streets. An NTC fighter told the BBC he found the former Libyan leader hiding in a drainage pipe and he had begged him not to shoot. The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi. 'Major concerns' Senior NTC member Mohammed Sayeh told the BBC he doubted that the colonel was deliberately killed, but added: "Even if he was killed intentionally, I think he deserves this." He added: "If they kill him 1,000 times, I think it will not pay back the Libyans what he has done." On Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there should be a full investigation into the killing. Her spokesman Rupert Colville told the BBC that Col Gaddafi's death could have been illegal. "There are two videos out there, one showing him alive and one showing him dead and there are four or five different versions of what happened in between those two cellphone videos. That obviously raises very, very major concerns," he said. "People get killed in wars and that is recognised clearly in international law. On the other hand, it is also very clear under international law that summary executions, extra-judicial killings, are illegal." UK-based human rights group Amnesty International called for "a full, independent and impartial inquiry" into the circumstances of Col Gaddafi's death.