FUGITIVE Colonel Gaddafi was executed in cold blood in a drainage ditch desperately begging for his life, it emerged this afternoon
The toppled despot is thought to have fled his car after his speeding convoy fleeing his Sirte stronghold was attacked in a NATO airstrike at 6am UK
Two fighter jets attacked the vehicles as they fled the Sirte assault, although neither of the planes that struck the convoy was flown by the RAF.
Another two-plane formation of British Tornado ground attack aircraft were on surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Libya
As the NATO strike on Gaddafi’s convoy hit the lead vehicles his aides started trying to exit from cars and escape on foot, realising the game was up.
Then as Gaddafi and several aides tried to run into the safety of a drainage ditch they were shot dead by rebel fighters pursuing them on foot.
Libya’s national Transitional Council vice-chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told a news conference in Benghaz: “We announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries.
“We will announce the liberation of Libya
It was initially reported that Gaddafi had been wounded and taken into custody by ambulance but witnesses said he was found cowering in a concrete pipe, pleading for his life.
The 69 year-old despot was shot in the head and both legs after fleeing a final rebel assault on besieged Sirte, his birthplace and hometown.
Opposition fighters said he died of his wounds shortly after the attack at dawn as the remnants of his loyalist inner-circle were overrun within the city.
His bloodied corpse - eyes half open, a bloodied mouth and blood on his head - was displayed on live television and beamed all around the world.
A man holds up what is thought to be Gaddafi's golden gun
Fighters brandished his slimline gold 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistol, snatched from him as he lay dying in the dirt.
Libyan prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, told a news conference in Tripoli: “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed.”
He then called for Algeria
Gaddafi was wanted by the international criminal court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians.
He was at one time believed to be hiding deep in the Sahara desert. His wife, two sons and a daughter fled to neighbouring Algeria Tripoli
Only yesterday, a day before his death, Gaddafi was said by Jibril to have been recruiting fighters from other countries in an effort to destabilise the regime that replaced him.
Gaddafi’s remains were later taken to Misrata as witnessed revealed the assault on Sirte - which has been under siege for two months-was backed by NATO warplanes and naval warships.
One fighter claimed Gaddafi was shot dead by pursuers on foot close to two large drainage pipes by the roadside moments after NATO warplanes attacked his convoy.
TV footage showed troops surrounding the two large drainage pipes under a highway where it is believed to have been hunted down after fleeing a car.
Spray painted above the pipe openings were the words “contemptible Gaddafi” and “God is greatest”.
There was one corpse, apparently a Gaddafi loyalist, lying on the ground next to the openings.
Gaddafi’s body was placed in a mosque in Misrata, close to a commercial centre in the city’s Souq Tawansa neighbourhood.
NATO later confirmed its aircraft attacked two military vehicles near Sirte, saying: “At approximately 0830 local time (0630 GMT ) NATO aircraft struck two pro-Gaddafi forces military vehicles which were part of a larger group moving in the vicinity of Sirte.”
Libyan Minister Mahmoud Shammam later confirmed that Gaddafi had been killed after he had personally spoken to fighters who said they saw the body.
Gaddafi’s death - shortly after being seized by rebel attackers - has finally ended the last remnants of his 42 year hold on Libya
British Prime Minister David Cameron said his death promised a better future for the people he ruled for four decades.
He said: “People in Libya
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