Gaddafi died of bullet wound, interim leaders say

REUTERS - Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, citing a forensic report, said on Thursday Muammar Gaddafi died from a bullet wound to the head received in crossfire between government fighters and his own supporters after he had been captured in Sirte.

Conflicting reports have emerged about how exactly Gaddafi died after being captured after a NATO airstrike hit his convoy as it tried to break away from the siege of his hometown.

"I am going to read to you a report by the forensic doctor who examined Gaddafi," Jibril told a news conference in the capital Tripoli.

UN seeks probe into death of Muammar Gaddafi As many Libyans rejoiced over the news that Muammar Gaddafi had been killed, gruesome mobile phone footage of his last moments has raised questions over how he met his end. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an investigation into the circumstances of his death. "On the issue of Kadhafi's death yesterday, the circumstances are still unclear," a Pillay spokesman, Rupert Colville, said. "There should be some kind of investigation given what we saw yesterday."

"It said: 'Gaddafi was taken out of a sewage pipe ... he didn't show any resistance. When we started moving him he was hit by a bullet in his right arm and when they put him in a truck he did not have any other injuries'," Jibril said.

"'When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head'," Jibril said reading from the report.

"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces," Jibril said.

Gaddafi was alive when he was taken from Sirte, but died a few minutes before reaching hospital, the prime minister said.

Jibril said DNA samples and blood was taken from the body. Also taken were samples of Gaddafi's hair, but that turned out to be "fake", seemingly confirming widespread rumours that Libya's feared ruler of 42 years had had hair implants.

Libya's National Transitional Council had been in touch with the International Criminal Court which had wanted to try Gaddafi for crimes against humanity, Jibril said.

The court had wanted to have a forensic expert inspect the body before the burial, he said, but after seeing the NTC's own report the court agreed that would not be necessary.

Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim was also killed on Thursday.

"As for Mo'tassim there is a wound in the head and a break in the skull and five bullets in the back and one in the neck," Jibril said.