How were the last moments of Moammar Gadhafi, the authoritarian leader who ruled Libya for 42 years

(CNN Spanish) – On February 21, 2011, just over 10 years ago, a militant Moammar Gadhafi swore that he would “die a martyr” before handing over power, as chaos reigned in the streets of Libya and the uprising against him grew throughout. the country.

“I am paying the price of staying here, and the price paid by my grandfather who fell martyr in 1911”, said the authoritarian leader on Libyan public television. “I will not leave the country and in the end I will die a martyr.”

Ghadafi had been in power for 42 years at the time, and a week earlier peaceful protests had broken out against him in the city of Benghazi, in the framework of the “Arab Spring” that had already sparked protests against long-lived authoritarian and nationalist leaders in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, among others.

The civil war in Libya

The Libyan police violently suppressed the protests, and two days later they had already broken down. displaced throughout the country, including the capital Tripoli, and they had left at least 200 dead among the protesters.

The protests then turned violent, transforming into an insurrection that would later lead to the civil war in Libya, during which NATO militarily assisted opposition movements to the Gadhafi government, which also received UN support.

Ghadafi, for his part, blamed al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden for stoking protesters, allegedly using drugs.

In the following months, Switzerland and the United States froze Ghadafi’s assets abroad, and the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi for their involvement in crimes against humanity in the violent repression of the revolt of the Libyan people.

Meanwhile, Gadhafi remained in Libya leading the fight against opposition forces, partially organized around the National Transitional Council (NTC), which were advancing across the country.

Finally, the rebels captured Gadhafi in Sirte on October 20, and that same day the former Libyan leader was shot in the head. It has not been clear if his death occurred in a shootout, as the Libyan interim government claimed at the time, or if it was an execution.

Gadhafi’s last moments

Journalist Ben Farmer, who was then covering Libya for The Daily Telegraph, described the last moments of Gadhafi, when he was trying to escape from Sirte in a convoy of about 20 vehicles.

“About three kilometers after the advance began, they were apparently attacked with NATO (aircraft) bombs, which destroyed almost the entire line of cars,” he told CNN. “He (Ghadafi) survived and escaped along with a handful of survivors and they hid in a drain under the road. There the rebels found him and captured him,” he said.

Farmer described this drain as a concrete pipe about 20 meters long and one meter wide, running under a path. It was full of garbage, stones and sand.

“He (Gadhafi) was alive when he was captured. He was bloody and looked hurt and confused. The rebels said he was asking for his life,” he said.

Dead or assassinated?

The CNT, an interim government made up of opponents and which succeeded Ghadafi until 2012, maintained that after his capture Ghadafi was put into a vehicle to be transported, and that later the vehicle was involved in a shooting in which the Libyan leader died.

But since then there have been reports of an alleged execution.

Peter Bouckaert, former director of emergencies at Human Rights Watch, said in 2011 to CNN that there was no longer fighting in the area when Gadhafi was cornered in the drain.

“When he left the area, he was alive. There is no reason why he was subjected to this kind of popular justice,” Bouckaert said, adding that it was a “humiliating end” for the Libyan leader.

A video taken in the area and distributed by Reuters – and that has not been verified by CNN – showed CNT fighters congratulating a man who, according to the fighters, had killed Gadhafi.

The video shows a group of exultant fighters. One of them He says: “He’s the one who killed him.” While another adds: “He killed him in front of me, I swear to God.”

Endless violence

On October 25, 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, his son Mutassim, and his Defense Minister Abu Baker Yunis – also dead at the time – were buried in an undisclosed location.

The Libyan civil war formally ended on October 23, 2011, when the CNT declared an end to hostilities, and later elected Abdurrahim El-Keib as interim prime minister.

However, violence continued in the country between the government, forces loyal to Gadhafi and jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS).

In 2014 Libya even re-entered a civil war, this time among the forces of the rebel general Haftar in the east –supported by Russia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt-, and the Libyan government in Tobruk, supported by Turkey and the West. Hostilities continued until broad Ceasefire agreed in 2020, which remains.