MISRATA, Libya ?? Libyan government officials said Monday the body of Moammar Gadhafi would no longer be kept on public view and guards shut the gates at the cold storage container where it had been displayed since the fallen leader was killed four days ago.
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"From 3 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT), the public will no longer be able to view the body," a National Transitional Council (NTC) official said. Guards at the container locked the gates to the surrounding compound at around 3:30 pm (10:30 a.m. EDT), barring access.
The bodies of one of Gadhafi's sons and of his former army chief were also on show in the cold store.
With their Western allies expressing quiet unease that Gadhafi was battered and shot after his capture on Thursday, then put on show for days in a market cold store, the rebel factions that ended his 42-year rule were still wrangling over the body, amid wider negotiations on dividing up power.
The killing of the 69-year-old in his hometown of Sirte ended a nervous, two-month hiatus since the motley rebel forces of the NTC overran the capital Tripoli and ended eight months of war ? though Gadhafi's son and heir-apparent Saif al-Islam is still at large.
Jockeying for power
Yet while the death of the fallen strongman allowed the NTC to trigger mass rejoicing by declaring Libya's long-awaited "liberation" on Sunday in Benghazi, the seat of the revolt, it has also turned a harsh spotlight on jockeying for power among heavily armed local commanders as negotiations begin in earnest to form an interim government that can run free elections.
'I am happy': Libyans line up to see Gadhafi's body
In Misrata, Libya's long-besieged third city whose war leaders are pushing for a big role in the peace, fighters handed out surgical masks to hundreds of sightseers entering the chill room where the bodies of Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and his former army chief lay on the floor, their flesh darkening and leaking fluids.
The Islamic law that NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel-Jalil said during Sunday's liberation announcement should be upheld in the new Libya would dictate a swift burial within the day.
NTC officials said negotiations were going on with Gadhafi's tribal kinsmen from Sirte and within the interim leadership over where and how to dispose of the bodies ? and on what the Misratans might receive in return for cooperation.
Video: Libya declares independence (on this page)Controversial killing
The killings in Sirte, after cell phone video footage was taken showing the captive Gadhafi being beaten and mocked by fighters apparently from Misrata, are also a matter of controversy ? at least outside Libya. The United Nations human rights arm has joined the Gadhafi family in seeking an inquiry.
Abdel-Jalil told a news conference Monday that the NTC has formed a committee to investigate Thursday's killing amid conflicting reports of how Gadhafi died. Government officials have said initial findings suggest Gadhafi was killed in the crossfire as his supporters clashed with revolutionary forces seizing control of Sirte.
But Abdel-Jalil raised a new possibility on Monday, suggesting that Gadhafi could have been killed by his own supporters to prevent him from implicating them in past misdeeds under his regime.
"Let us question who has the interest in the fact that Gadhafi will not be tried. Libyans want to try him for what he did to them, with executions, imprisonment and corruption," he said. "Free Libyans wanted to keep Gadhafi in prison and humiliate him as long as possible. Those who wanted him killed were those who were loyal to him or had played a role under him, his death was in their benefit."
Adding to concerns about Libya turning over a new leaf on respect for individuals, New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the NTC to probe an "apparent mass execution" of 53 people, apparently Gadhafi supporters, whom it found dead, some with their hands bound, at a hotel in Sirte.
Story: Libya NTC head Jalil pledges to uphold Islamic lawFew qualms
Yet few Libyans seem troubled about either how Gadhafi and his entourage were killed or why they are being kept exposed for so long in what seemed a grim parody of the lying in state often reserved for deceased national leaders.
"God made the pharaoh as an example to the others," said Salem Shaka, who was viewing the bodies on Monday. "If he had been a good man, we would have buried him.
"But he chose this destiny for himself," Shaka said.
Another man, who said he had driven 250 miles to see the bodies, said: "I came here to make sure with my own eyes ... All Libyans must see him."
However, some of the anti-Gadhafi rebels' Western allies have expressed disquiet about the treatment of Gadhafi both after his capture and after his death and worry Libya's new leaders will not uphold their promise to respect human rights.
Asked whether France, a driving force in NATO backing for the rebels, was concerned about democracy in the new Libya, the French foreign ministry noted that Abdel-Jalil had said he would defend a "moderate" Islam.
'Rotten' symbol
Libya's revolt erupted in February as part of anti-government protests spreading across the Middle East. But Libya's struggle has been the bloodiest so far in the region. Mass protests turned into a civil war that killed thousands and paralyzed the country. Gadhafi loyalists held out for two more months after the fall of the capital of Tripoli in late August.
As their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbors contemplated free elections , some fellow Arabs voiced distaste at Gadhafi's treatment, even though sympathy for the fallen strongman was in short supply.
Video: Clinton: Libya must be accountable for Gadhafi (on this page)"Forty-two dark years under a merciless dictator has naturally left the Libyan people very damage," said Mahmoud Nofal, a 36-year-old bank employee in Cairo. "It has driven them mad for revenge. The rotting body is just emblematic of the rotten political and social environment under Gadhafi."
The NTC wants the bodies buried in a secret location to prevent the grave becoming a shrine for Gadhafi loyalists. But authorities in Misrata do not want them under their soil.
Story: In his last days, Gadhafi wearied of fugitive?s lifeGadhafi's tribe centered around Sirte has asked for the body so they can bury it there. Gadhafi requested to be buried in Sirte in his will. One NTC official said authorities were negotiating with Gadhafi's tribe for them to accept the bodies and then taken them to buried elsewhere in secret.
An NTC official in Misrata said one option was to inter them alongside hundreds of pro-Gadhafi troops and fighters who besieged the city earlier in the year have been buried. Some in Misrata, he said, wanted the people of Sirte, some 150 miles to the east, to produce the remains of relatives believed to have been killed by Gadhafi supporters over the years.
Video: Gadhafi leaves behind violent legacy (on this page)Lucrative natural resources
With big oil and gas reserves, Libya has the potential to become very prosperous, but regional rivalries fostered by Gadhafi could erupt into yet more violence.
The loosely disciplined militias that sprang up in each town with the help of NATO air power are still armed.
The places they represent will want a greater say in the future, particularly the second and third cities Benghazi and Misrata, which were starved of investment by Gadhafi.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45011251/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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