MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's all-powerful leader for four decades, spent his final weeks shuttling from hideout to hideout in his hometown of Sirte, alternating between rage and despair as his regime crumbled around him, said a regime insider now in custody.
Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and an entourage of two dozen die-hard loyalists were largely cut off from the world while on the run, living in abandoned homes without TV, phones or electricity, using candles for light, said Mansour Dao, a member of the Gadhafi clan and former chief bodyguard.
Gadhafi would spend his time reading, jotting down notes or brewing tea on a coal stove, Dao said late Monday in a conference room — now serving as a jail cell — of the revolutionary forces' headquarters in the port city of Misrata. "He was not leading the battle," Dao said of Gadhafi. "His sons did that. He did not plan anything or think about any plan."
The uprising against Gadhafi erupted in February and quickly escalated into a civil war that formally ended Sunday, with a declaration of liberation by Libya's new leaders. Gadhafi's capture and death Thursday, along with the fall of Sirte, the last regime stronghold, paved the way for that milestone.
On the day of Gadhafi's capture, a loyalist convoy, including an olive-green Toyota Landcruiser carrying the former Libyan leader and Dao, sped out of Sirte to try to escape. But the convoy was hit by a NATO airstrike. Gadhafi and Dao were wounded and captured, and Gadhafi died in unclear circumstances later that day.
Libya's interim government has agreed under mounting international pressure to open an investigation.
Libyan officials claim Gadhafi was killed in crossfire between revolutionary fighters and loyalists. However, video footage has emerged showing Gadhafi being beaten, taunted and abused by his captors. Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said Monday that there are strong indications that Gadhafi and Muatassim were killed in custody. He said a Libyan woman in the convoy told the rights group that Gadhafi was only lightly hurt in the NATO strike.
Dao, who was one of more than a dozen loyalists captured at the time, said he fell unconscious from his injuries before Gadhafi's capture and does not know what happened to his boss.
The bodies of Gadhafi, Muatassim and Abu Bakr Younis, Gadhafi's defense minister, were put on public display in a commercial refrigerator in the port city of Misrata for four days, before being buried at dawn Tuesday in unmarked graves in an undisclosed location. A Misrata official said they were given an Islamic burial, with some relatives in attendance.
Dao said Gadhafi fled his residential compound in Tripoli around Aug. 18 or 19, just before revolutionary forces swept into the city. After the capital's fall, Dao said Gadhafi headed directly to Sirte, accompanied by Muatassim. Gadhafi's former heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, sought refuge in Bani Walid, another loyalist stronghold, Dao said.
Dao joined Gadhafi in Sirte a week later, while Libya's former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi, shuttled between Sirte and the southern city of Sabha, the third remaining pro-Gadhafi bastion at the time. Al-Senoussi and Seif al-Islam, wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, remain at large.
Gadhafi's aides repeatedly urged him to step aside and leave the country, but he refused, saying he wanted to die in the land of his ancestors, according to Dao.
"I feel sorry for him because he underestimated the situation," Dao said. "He could have left and gotten out of the country and lived a happy life."
Dao had worked for Gadhafi since 1980, including as chief of his personal security in the 1990s. Later, he assumed command of the so-called Peoples' Guards, whose main aim was to hunt down Gadhafi's opponents.
In Sirte, Gadhafi and his entourage switched hideouts about every four days, as the city was pounded by NATO airstrikes and revolutionary forces advanced. The group stayed within the confines of District 2, seeking shelter in homes residents had abandoned as they fled the fighting.
"We were scared of the airstrikes and shelling," Dao said, adding that he did not believe Gadhafi was afraid.
He said food was scarce in Sirte in the final days. Dao has previously said that audio messages Gadhafi sent from hiding were transmitted by Thuraya satellite phone.
In Sirte, loyalist fighters were led by Muatassim, who initially commanded about 350 men, Dao said. Many fled and toward the end, the fighting force diminished to about 150, said Dao, dressed in navy blue pajamas.
Gadhafi, who once ruled a country of 6 million with an iron fist, railed against the loss of power. "He was stressed, he was really angry, he was mad sometimes," Dao said. "Mostly, he was just sad and angry."
"He believed the Libyan people still loved him, even after we told him that Tripoli had been occupied."
<한글기사>
"카다피, 최후까지 국민이 자신 사랑한다 믿어"
최근 사망한 리비아의 독재자 무아마르 카다피 는 "수도 트리폴리가 함락된 뒤에도 리비아 국민이 자신을 사랑한다고 믿고 있었다"고 그의 최측근이 밝혔다.
1980년부터 카다피의 개인 경호를 맡아왔던 리비아 인민수비대 사령관 만수르 다오 이브라힘은 25일(현지시간) 카다피가 최후의 순간까지 현실을 직시하지 못했다 며 이 같이 말했다.
다오는 카다피가 숨진 20일에 생포됐으며, 현재 리비아 과도정부에 의해 미스라 타 소재 교도소에 구금된 상태다.
다오는 카다피의 측근들이 그에게 권좌에서 물러나 리비아를 떠날 것을 권유했 지만 그가 완강히 거부했다며 "카다피가 상황을 과소평가하고 있었다"고 밝혔다.
그는 또 600만 인구의 리비아를 40년 넘게 철권통치했던 카다피가 자신이 권력을 잃었다는 사실에 "극심한 스트레스를 받았고 가끔은 미친 사람 같았다"고 말했다.
다오는 카다피가 생전에 리비아 내전을 "직접 이끌어 본 적이 없으며, 그의 아 들들이 모든 전투를 지휘했다"고 말했다.
또 카다피는 전쟁에 대해 "아무 계획도 세우지 않았으며 생각조차도 하지 않았 다"고 덧붙였다.
카다피의 마지막 날들도 구체적으로 드러났다.
다오에 따르면 카다피와 그의 측근들은 시르테가 나토(북대서양조약기구)군과 과도정부군에 의해 포위되자 4일에 한 번꼴로 은신처를 바꿔가며 위태로운 도피생활 을 이어갔다.
카다피는 자신을 수호하던 친위부대의 규모가 점점 줄어들면서 불안에 시달렸던 것으로 보인다. 그의 넷째 아들 무타심이 이끌던 친위부대의 규모는 애초 350명이었 으나 일부가 도망치면서 최후에는 150명까지로 줄었다.
카다피의 사망 경위도 좀 더 명확해졌다.
다오는 20일 카다피와 자신을 포함한 그의 측근들이 황록색 도요타 랜드크루저 차량을 타고 시르테를 빠져나가려다, 나토군의 공습을 받았다고 말했다.
이 공격으로 부상해 정신을 잃은 다오는 이후 카다피에게 어떤 일이 발생했는지 알 수 없었다고 진술했다.
그러나 이날 다오와 함께 붙잡힌 카다피의 또 다른 최측근 여성은 국제 인권단 체 휴먼라이츠워치(HRW) 측에 카다피가 생포됐을 당시 부상이 경미했다고 밝혔다.
