NTC: Gadhafi’s Body to be Handed to Extended Family

Libya's interim government will hand the body of slain despot Moammar Gadhafi to his relatives after consulting with them on the location of his burial, a senior government advisor said on Sunday.

"The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment," Ahmed Jibril told Agence France Presse.

"The NTC (National Transitional Council) are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gadhafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC," he added.

Jibril, who is an advisor to the new regime's interim premier Mahmoud Jibril, declined to say when the transfer would take place.

Since he was killed on Thursday, as he tried to flee his hometown of Sirte, Gadhafi's body has been held in a refrigerated chamber outside Misrata, drawing large crowds wanting to view the remains of the despot who ruled Libya with an iron fist for decades.

The NTC has been reticent about plans for his burial, not wishing to see the grave become a rallying point for residual loyalists, and NTC leaders and military officials have indicated that he would be buried in a secret location.

Libya's chief forensic pathologist said an autopsy has confirmed that Gadhafi was killed by a shot to the head.

Dr. Othman al-Zintani said doctors completed the examination on Sunday but he won't disclose more details until he delivers a report to the attorney general.

Bloody images of Gadhafi being taunted and beaten by his captors in his hometown of Sirte have raised questions about whether he was killed in crossfire as suggested by the government or deliberately executed.

International concern about the issue has clouded plans by the transitional government to declare liberation later Sunday after months of bloodshed amid a rebellion to oust the hated leader of nearly 42 years.