Muammar Al Khadafi

MUAMMAR Gaddafi — who ruled Libya with an iron fist for nearly 42 years before being driven from power by a long and bloody uprising — has been killed in a gun battle while trying to flee his home town of Sirt.
Celebrations erupted across Libya as reports of the dictator's capture and demise spread.
"We announce to the world that Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution," National Transitional Council spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga was quoted saying early today Melbourne time. "It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate."
Libyan state television also reported that Gaddafi had been killed, and a graphic photo apparently showing the despot after being shot was circulated on the internet.
Gaddafi's former defence minister, Abu Bakr Yunis, was also reportedly killed in the final battle for control of Sirt.
Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil was later expected to make a televised address to the national confirming Gaddafi's death.
One of the new regimes' top military officials, Khalifa Haftar, confirmed that Sirt, the final bastion of resistance by forces loyal to Gaddafi, had fallen. "Sirt has been liberated, and with the confirmation that Gaddafi is dead Libya has been completely liberated," he told AFP.
"Those who were fighting with Gaddafi have either been killed or captured," he said.
Huge celebrations broke out in the capital Tripoli on the news, with citizens cruising the streets in their cars, horns blaring and Free Libya flags flying. Ships in the capital's sweeping harbour also sounded their horns.
People gathered in the renamed Martyr Square, clapping, waving flags and dancing on the news that so many Libyans had been waiting for.
In Sirt, National Transitional Council soldiers fired their weapons in the air in celebration, as their nearly two-month campaign to take the strategic coastal town appeared to have finally come to an end.