A bloodied Moammar Gadhafi was seen alive and walking as he was being manhandled by Libya's new regime fighters before the announcement of his death Thursday, in a videotape aired on Arab satellite channels.

National Transitional Council fighters circled the 69-year-old ousted strongman, who was bloodied in the head, face and shoulders, as he apparently tried to cry out.

Clashes raged Thursday in Syria between troops and suspected army deserters as more civilians were reportedly killed in the crisis-hit country, a rights group said.

Violence in Syria has intensified in recent weeks as defections from the army reportedly increase, and at least five civilians died in Thursday's violence, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Here are the key dates in Libya's history over the past 100 years, after the announcement of the death of deposed strongman Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday:

- 1911-1912: Italy conquers Libya, which had been under domination of the Ottoman Empire since 1551.

Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed when his hometown Sirte fell on Thursday after refusing to surrender, ruled his North African country for 42 years before being ousted in August.

Renowned for his flamboyant dress sense and rambling rhetoric, the embattled Libyan leader, 69, came up against an unprecedented challenge to his rule after anti-regime protests erupted on February 15.

News that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi was killed in his hometown Sirte on Thursday sparked scenes of wild joy among the ranks of new regime fighters who had crushed his final bastion of support.

"We did it! We did it!" chanted the fighters overcome with emotion, exchanging well-wishes, hugs and handshakes against a backdrop of intense celebratory gunfire.

Mutassim Gadhafi, one of the ousted Libyan strongman's sons, was found dead in Sirte on Thursday, a commander of the new regime forces told Agence France Presse.

"We found him dead. We put his body and that of (former defense minister) Abu Bakr Younis in an ambulance to take them to Misrata," said Mohammed Leith, who had earlier confirmed that Moammar Gadhafi had been captured in his hometown and subsequently died of his wounds.

World leaders greeted the death of former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi Thursday as the end of despotism, tyranny, dictatorship and ultimately war in the north African country.

As Libyans on the streets of Tripoli and Sirte fired automatic weapons into the air and danced for joy, the death of the man who had ruled the oil-rich north African nation for 42 years was widely welcomed.

Syria has agreed to allow an Arab League delegation to visit Damascus in a bid to defuse the deadly violence there, the 22-member body said in a statement on Thursday.

"We have received approval from the Syrian government to receive a ministerial delegation, headed by Qatar on Wednesday, October 26," Assistant Secretary General Wagih Hanafi said.

The Yemeni opposition called on the United Nations on Thursday to force President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down unconditionally, rejecting his request for international guarantees.

The opposition Common Forum dismissed as a sham Saleh's announcement on Wednesday that he was ready to sign a Gulf-brokered deal for him to quit office in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution if it was backed up by European and U.S. guarantees.

The British embassy in the Gulf state of Kuwait has temporarily suspended services because of an increased threat toward the mission, a statement on the embassy website said Thursday.

"As of 19 October 2011, because of an increased threat toward the British embassy, we have temporarily suspended British embassy services," the statement said.