Libyan NTC fighters celebrating in Sirte after their final victory against the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi Thursday. ? Internet TRIPOLI, Oct 21 (Agencies): Libya's government has delayed Muammar Gaddafi's burial amid uncertainty about his final resting place and the circumstances of his killing.
Oil minister Ali Tarhouni said the body of the ex-leader may be kept "for a few days". Under Islamic tradition burial should take place as soon as possible.
It is unclear whether this will be in his hometown of Sirte, Misrata where the body was taken, or in the desert.
Sources said his body was being held in a refrigerated chamber somewhere outside Misrata and that the authorities wanted to run DNA tests before the burial.
The UN is seeking an inquiry into Gaddafi's death.
Libyan authorities are planning a secret burial for Gaddafi, the BBC understands.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says the authorities will conduct a secret burial and there is some speculation that they might even try to bury him at sea, as al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was buried, to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine, she adds.
Meanwhile Nato is expected to declare an end to its Libya campaign in the coming hours.
Libya's leaders faced huge pressure Friday to proclaim the country's liberation and move toward democracy, amid euphoria over the killing of despot Gaddafi under still murky circumstances.
As news broke of the death of Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and other top regime figures during the fall of his hometown Sirte, the NTC held off on a promised declaration that the country was finally freed.
NTC leaders had said that once Sirte was in the hands of their fighters, they would announce the formation of an interim government to oversee drawing up a new constitution and holding free elections after four decades of dictatorship.
But with another Gaddafi son-longtime heir-apparent Seif al-Islam-still unaccounted for, NTC leaders waited, despite jubilation in towns across the country at the news that the once-all powerful tyrant was dead.
Interim premier Mahmud Jibril said Seif al-Islam was believed to be pinned down in a village near Sirte.
Gaddafi's body was laid out overnight in a private residence in Misrata-Libya's third-largest city, which his forces devastated in a protracted siege that proved to be one of the turning points of the eight-month uprising, an AFP correspondent reported.
Meanwhile, questions are mounting as to exactly what happened in Gaddafi's last moments following his capture.
Officials have denied he was executed.
Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Gaddafi had been shot in the head in an exchange of fire between Gaddafi loyalists and NTC fighters following his capture in his hometown of Sirte
Video footage suggests he was dragged through the streets.
An NTC fighter told the BBC he found the former Libyan leader hiding in a drainage pipe and he had begged him not to shoot.
The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.
Source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
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