Gaddafi will requests Sirte burial as Libya set to declare liberation

Document on former Libyan dictator’s website likely to further confuse debate over where he should be buried A will apparently written by Muammar Gaddafi expresses the wish that he be buried in Sirte, the town of his birth, next to “my family and relatives”. The will surfaced on Gaddafi’s website , Seven Day News, on Sunday. It is said to be the only surviving copy of three identical testaments given to the former Libyan dictator’s relatives. One relative was killed, the second arrested, and the third managed to escape amid fighting in Sirte, the BBC reported. In the will, Gaddafi urges his supporters to continue to resist foreign occupation. He also alludes to the fact that he chose to fight and die inside Libya rather than picking the in his view dishonourable route of foreign exile. He implies that he received “many offers” of support from other countries. The document, translated into English, states: “This is my will. I, Muammar bin Mohammad bin Abdussalam bi Humayd bin Abu Manyar bin Humayd bin Nayil al Fuhsi Gaddafi, do swear that there is no other God but Allah and that Mohammad is God’s Prophet, peace be upon him. I pledge that I will die as Muslim. Should I be killed, I would like to be buried, according to Muslim rituals, in the clothes I was wearing at the time of my death and my body unwashed, in the cemetery of Sirte, next to my family and relatives. I would like that my family, especially women and children, be treated well after my death. The Libyan people should protect its identity, achievements, history and the honourable image of its ancestors and heroes. The Libyan people should not relinquish the sacrifices of the free and best people. I call on my supporters to continue the resistance, and fight any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always. Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life. We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honour. Even if we do not win immediately, we will give a lesson to future generations that choosing to protect the nation is an honour and selling it out is the greatest betrayal that history will remember forever despite the attempts of the others to tell you otherwise.” The testament is likely to further confuse the debate over where Gaddafi should be buried. His body is still being kept in a refrigerated warehouse in Misrata, four days after his capture and death at the hands of rebel fighters last Thursday. Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) in Tripoli has been paralysed with indecision over what to do with the body. Local NTC representatives in Misrata have refused to allow his burial in their town, and the stand-off threatens to overshadow the day of national liberation that the NTC is proclaiming on Sunday from Benghazi, the eastern city that was the first to rise up against Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, kicking off Libya’s eight-month revolution. The day is supposed to mark the beginning of the country’s formal transition to democracy. Speaking in Jordan on Sunday, Libya’s departing prime minister said talks were under way to form an interim government, replacing the NTC, within a month. “There are consultations which started to form an … interim government,” Mahmoud Jibril said, according to Reuters. “This process will take, I think, from one week to one month approximately. This is my expectation. It might go longer, it might be less than that.” Elections to Libya’s new national congress should follow as soon as possible afterwards, he said. But one of many obstacles facing Libya’s new provisional leadership is the question of whether, in the minutes following his capture in Sirte, Gaddafi was executed. Libya’s chief pathologist confirmed that he had died of a gunshot wound to the head. It is still unclear who fired the fatal shot, and under what circumstances, with Amnesty and other human rights groups pressing for a full investigation. Dr Othman al-Zintani carried out the autopsy on Gaddafi’s body at a morgue in Misrata. Speaking afterwards, he said it was “obvious” the former dictator had died from a bullet to the head. He did not elaborate, but appeared to be referring to the entry wound clearly visible on the left side of Gaddafi’s head, shown in numerous shots of his body screened around the world. “He died because of a gunshot wound to the head.” al-Zintani said: “There are still several issues. We have to pass [the report] to the prosecutor general. But everything will be revealed publicly. Nothing will be hidden.” Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Africa Luke Harding guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.