Gaddafi ‘was killed by crossfire’ in Sirte assault

Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Gaddafi had been shot in the head in an exchange between his loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters. He confirmed that Col Gaddafi had been taken alive, but had died before reaching hospital.

A doctor present during Gaddafi’s final moments said he died from two bullet wounds, one to the head and the other to the chest.

Nato’s governing body, meeting today, is expected to declare an end to its Libyan bombing campaign.

Gaddafi’s death was today welcomed by an Edinburgh bouncer who went to fight with Libyan revolutionaries.

Ragab Ballali, who grew up in Wester Hailes, was injured while fighting Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte and is now recovering from his wounds in Tunisia.

But he thinks Libya still has difficult days ahead, despite the end of the Colonel’s 42-year-long rule. Speaking from a hotel in Tunisia where injured anti-Gaddafi fighters are staying, the 36-year-old said: “I feel elated and relieved. A lot of people have died in this war, there has been too much blood spilled for one man.

“It’s not over, but the hardest part is over. Libya is a very new country with no political experience. So there’s going to be problems along the way, but it’s a great country and will pull through. I think people who suffered under him would want to get some closure with a trial, and it would’ve been a lot better to have a trial.”

Today Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, said Gaddafi’s death left many questions unanswered.