Libyan rebels argued whether or not to kill Gaddafi as he pleaded for life

October 22, 2011 | World News | Written by

Tripoli, Oct 22: New footage of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after being captured shows that the rebels argued over whether or not to kill him as he tried to persuade them to spare his life.

Moments after he was pulled out of a drain where he had been hiding, fighters shouted “You dog! You dog!” as others tried to stop them lynching him, saying: “Don’t kill him, we need him alive,” The Telegraph reports.

After Gaddafi and his entourage ran for cover in two storm drains under a road, the rebels tried to fire on them using anti-aircraft guns before moving in on foot.

“One of Gaddafi’s men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting ‘surrender’, but as soon as he saw my face he started shooting at me,” one of the fighters said.

“Then I think Gaddafi must have told them to stop. He said: ‘My master is here, my master is here. Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded.’ We went in and brought Gaddafi out. He was saying: ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s going on?’” he added.

An unnamed rebel who claimed to have been the first to lay hands on Gaddafi said: “When we entered the hole we saw his bushy head and I jumped on him first. The guys I was with came in and surrounded him.”

“When we captured him he had his golden pistol on him and this gun (a revolver) in another bag,” he added.

It emerged on Friday that NATO had no clue that Gaddafi was in one of a convoy of vehicles that was attacked from the air as it tried to break out of Sirte on Thursday. (ANI)