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UN Human Rights Office Urges Qaddafi Probe, NATO Mission Set To End

October 21, 2011

The UN human rights office says there needs to be a full investigation into the circumstances of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's death.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva that videos showing a captured Qaddafi first alive, and then dead amid fighters of the transitional government near his hometown of Sirte on October 20 were "very disturbing."

The National Transitional Council (NTC) said Qaddafi was killed when a gunfight broke out between his supporters and government fighters. It said no order had been given to kill the man who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years.

On October 20, NTC officials said Qaddafi's burial has been delayed for a few days, and that no decision has been made on where he is to be buried.

Libyans in the capital Tripoli and elsewhere in the North African country have been celebrating following the killing of Qaddafi.

Much of the international community has also welcomed Qaddafi's death, and has called on Libyans now to work for a democratic future that stands in contrast to the brutality of Qaddafi's dictatorship.

NATO's governing body is meeting on October 21 to discuss an end to the alliance's six-month UN-mandated air campaign to protect civilians in Libya following Qaddafi's death.

A NATO official said ambassadors from the alliance's 28 member countries will meet in Brussels in the afternoon "with Libya on the agenda of the talks."

NATO's top military commander says he will recommend the end of the alliance's Libya mission.

Admiral Jim Stavridis made the announcement in a posting on his Facebook page before a meeting of the alliance's governing body -- the North Atlantic Council.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Muammar Qaddafi's death in Sirte on October 20 meant NATO's military intervention was "coming to its end."

Speaking to reporters in Paris ahead of the meeting, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said NATO's military intervention was "clearly coming to its end."

In a UN-mandated operation to protect civilians, NATO has been conducting air strikes, enforcing a no-fly zone and maintaining an arms embargo with naval patrols since March 31.

France and Britain spearheaded the operation.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/un_human_rights_office_urges_qaddafi_probe_nato_mission_set_to_end/24366909.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.