Muammar Gaddafi 'Has Met His Fate'

Muammar Gaddafi is dead.  

Al-Jazeera reports that the Libyan dictator was killed near his hometown of Sirte in western Libya.

Early reports said he died after being shot in the legs during a final battle for the town. But new reports say Gaddafi was "shot in the head after fighters surrounded the hole he was found hiding in." (Shades of Saddam Hussein and his hiding hole.)

[ Update: The Guardian now says Gaddafi "was reportedly found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, where he and and others had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a Nato airstrike as it attempted to escape. A spokesman for the National Tranisitional Council -- Libya's ruling body -- said Gaddafi was alive when captured but died in an ambulance on the way to hospital." ]

The Guardian has posted a photo (warning, very graphic) that appears to be Gaddafi's bloodied body.

"We announce to the world that Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution. It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate."

Muammar Gaddafi was 69 years old. He ruled Libya for 42 of those years, from his overthrow of King Idris I in 1969 until he himself was overthrown this summer.  

See our biography of Muammar Gaddafi »

{ Photo: WENN }