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NTC leader announces committee to look into circumstances of death and officials order halt to public viewing of corpse Libya’s new government has bowed to international pressure and announced an investigation into last week’s killing of Muammar Gaddafi, as officials in the coastal city of Misrata ordered a halt to public viewing of the dictator’s decomposing corpse. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the ruling national transitional council (NTC), said a committee had been set up to look into the circumstances of the deaths of Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in Sirte, the scene of the regime’s last defiant stand. He said Libyans would have preferred to see the deposed leader stand trial and be held accountable for his crimes. New evidence of atrocities emerged with a report that the bodies of 53 Gaddafi loyalists, some of them bound and shot in the head, had been found in Sirte. No arrangements have yet been made for Gaddafi to be buried and the Misrata council has refused to release his body to his relatives. Al-Arabiyya TV reported that it was possible he would be buried at sea, and local residents were refusing to have him interred even in a special cemetery set aside for “invaders”. A third body in the Misrata meat storage facility is that of the old regime’s army commander, Abu Bakr Younis. Guards finally closed the doors on Monday as people queued up to have a look at the grisly scene inside. Libyan TV channels continue to screen video footage of Gaddafi’s final moments as well as scenes of rebel fighters squatting around his corpse and cursing him in the cold store. Monday’s newspapers showed yet more gory images on their front pages. “We have formed a committee to investigate how Gaddafi was killed during the clashes with his supporters while arresting him,” Abdel-Jalil said in Benghazi. “All Libyans wanted to prosecute him over what he did to them, from executions to imprisonment, corruption, wasting their money. Those who have an interest in killing him before prosecuting him are those who had an active role with him.” Observers suggested the NTC move had been prompted by expressions of concern from the US, Britain and other countries about the rule of law and human rights in post-Gaddafi Libya. John Jenkins, the UK ambassador, saw Abdel-Jalil in Benghazi before Sunday’s ceremony marking the formal liberation of the country. Mahmoud Jibril, the NTC prime minister and the man credited with securing western and Nato support for the rebels, had already said he was in favour of an investigation. Abdel-Jalil indicated that the NTC still held to the initial official explanation that Gaddafi may have been killed in “crossfire” with his own men – a view many of his own officials do not appear to believe. Privately, most defend the killing. Ordinary Libyans canvassed in Tripoli and Benghazi since last Friday seem largely indifferent to the international concerns about how Gaddafi was killed or about the propriety of leaving his corpse on public display. “You think it’s bad?” one Tripoli resident said. “Gaddafi was very bad. And we suffered from him for 42 years.” Many expressed sentiments of raw vengeance. Ahmed al-Atrash, a university lecturer, said: “I don’t care how Gaddafi was killed. But I do wish he had been captured alive because it would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about everything he was involved in.” Farida, a lawyer, said: “I was sorry that his life ended so easily. He should have been brought to justice and faced the families who suffered because his troops raped their women or killed their men, or made to explain how he used money to manipulate people. Forget the 42 years, I’m just talking about what happened since February 17 [when the revolution began].” Detailing apparent evidence of a new atrocity in Sirte, Human Rights Watch said the 53 bodies were found on Sunday on the lawn of the abandoned Hotel Mahari, which saw heavy fighting last week as NTC forces battled for control of the town. “This requires the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities to investigate what happened and hold accountable those responsible,” said HRW’s Peter Bouckaert. “Some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot. This latest massacre seems part of a trend of killings, looting and other abuses committed by armed anti-Gaddafi fighters who consider themselves above the law. It is imperative that the transitional authorities take action to rein in these groups.” Disputes over the circumstances of the killings and the disposal of the bodies appear to reflect tensions between the rebel brigades and the NTC leadership. Western diplomats say the disarmament and demobilisation of the brigades – and their integration into the security forces of the new Libyan government – is the biggest single challenge of the coming months. HRW said it believed the hotel had been in the hands of anti-Gaddafi forces from Misrata before the killings, and it remained in their control until the fighting in Sirte stopped on 20 October. “The evidence suggests that some of the victims were shot while being held as prisoners, when that part of Sirte was controlled by anti-Gaddafi brigades who appear to act outside the control of the NTC,” Bouckaert said. Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Ian Black guardian.co.uk