Libya
's new
rulers said Thursday they would prosecute the killers of ousted dictator
Moammar Gadhafi following the international outcry over the circumstances of
his death.
"With regards to Gadhafi, we do not wait for anybody to tell us,"
said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the ruling National Transitional
Council at a news conference in
Benghazi
.
"We had already launched an investigation. We have issued a code of ethics
in handling of prisoners of war. There were some violations by those who are
unfortunately described as revolutionaries. I am sure that was an individual
act and not an act of revolutionaries or the national army," the top
interim official said.
"We had issued a statement saying that any violations of human rights will
be investigated by the NTC. Whoever is responsible for that [Gadhafi's killing]
will be judged and given a fair trial."
Ghoga, who spoke in Arabic and whose remarks were translated by an official
interpreter, was responding to specific questions about Gadhafi's death and
potential abuses.
His statement came as NATO weighed a possible new role in
Libya
following Gadhafi's controversial death, as
France
said
the U.N. would vote on Thursday to end the alliance's mandate for an air war on
October 31.
Global disquiet has grown over how Gadhafi met his end at the hands of NTC
fighters who hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following a NATO
air strike.
Mobile phone videos show him still alive at that point.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed his
"disgust" at the global media for its graphic coverage of the ousted
leader's death.
"Almost the entire Gadhafi family was killed. His body was shown on all
the world channels. You could not watch without disgust," news agencies
quoted Putin as saying.
"What is that?" Putin exclaimed. "They show a bloodied man,
wounded, still alive but getting beaten to death. And they splash that all over
the screen."