Gotham Knight
Watchful Protector
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Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Conflicting reports surfaced Thursday that deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is dead or has been captured. Deafening celebrations erupted in Tripoli, but none of the reports could be independently verified.
Gadhafi's death was reported by National Transitional Council television station Al-Ahrar. It did not cite a source.
Gadhafi's capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.
A National Transitional Council military spokesman told CNN that reports of Gadhafi's capture are only rumors.
A "big fish" has been captured in Libya, but Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam couldn't say with certainty whether it was Gadhafi.
Abdurahman Bousin, the NTC spokesman, added that it's doubtful that Gadhafi was even in or around his hometown of Sirte.
In another major development, revolutionary fighters said they wrested control of the coastal city Thursday.
Without photographic proof of Gadhafi's capture, it was unclear whether Thursday would turn out to be the biggest day in recent Libyan history. Statements made by representatives of Libya's new leadership in the past have not always turned out to be true.
Still, Libyans erupted in joy. Horns blared and celebratory gunfire burst into the air in Tripoli.
Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. The mercurial leader came to power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.
By the end of his rule, he claimed to be "King of Kings," a title he had a gathering of tribal leaders grant him in 2008.
But a February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.
Many were waiting for photographs as proof of Gadhafi's capture.
Earlier, anti-Gadhafi fighters said they had taken control of the last holdout of loyalists in Sirte. They said they were still battling pockets of resistance, but they were in control of District 2.
Sirte has been the big prize for Libya's NTC, waiting for the city to fall to officially declare liberation.
Most residents abandoned Sirte in the many weeks of bloody battles that raged there. Revolutionary forces have fought Gadhafi's men street by street, cornering the last vestiges of the old regime to that last district.
Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity has not been seen in public in months. Many believed he was hiding out in Sirte after rebel forces marched into Tripoli in August.
cnn.com
Gadhafi's death was reported by National Transitional Council television station Al-Ahrar. It did not cite a source.
Gadhafi's capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.
A National Transitional Council military spokesman told CNN that reports of Gadhafi's capture are only rumors.
A "big fish" has been captured in Libya, but Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam couldn't say with certainty whether it was Gadhafi.
Abdurahman Bousin, the NTC spokesman, added that it's doubtful that Gadhafi was even in or around his hometown of Sirte.
In another major development, revolutionary fighters said they wrested control of the coastal city Thursday.
Without photographic proof of Gadhafi's capture, it was unclear whether Thursday would turn out to be the biggest day in recent Libyan history. Statements made by representatives of Libya's new leadership in the past have not always turned out to be true.
Still, Libyans erupted in joy. Horns blared and celebratory gunfire burst into the air in Tripoli.
Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. The mercurial leader came to power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.
By the end of his rule, he claimed to be "King of Kings," a title he had a gathering of tribal leaders grant him in 2008.
But a February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.
Many were waiting for photographs as proof of Gadhafi's capture.
Earlier, anti-Gadhafi fighters said they had taken control of the last holdout of loyalists in Sirte. They said they were still battling pockets of resistance, but they were in control of District 2.
Sirte has been the big prize for Libya's NTC, waiting for the city to fall to officially declare liberation.
Most residents abandoned Sirte in the many weeks of bloody battles that raged there. Revolutionary forces have fought Gadhafi's men street by street, cornering the last vestiges of the old regime to that last district.
Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity has not been seen in public in months. Many believed he was hiding out in Sirte after rebel forces marched into Tripoli in August.
cnn.com
