NGO: 53 Gadhafi loyalists 'executed'

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A human-rights group called for an inquiry following the discovery of 53 bodies of apparent loyalists to ousted Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi in Sirte.

"We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently Gadhafi supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot," Human Rights Watch Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert said.

Bouckaert, who investigated the killings, said in a statement the bodies at Sirte's Hotel Mahari "were clustered together, apparently where they had been killed, on the grass in the sea-view garden of the hotel."

"This requires the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities to investigate what happened and hold accountable those responsible," Bouckaert said.

The National Transitional Council, Libya's de facto government established by anti-Gadhafi forces during the Libyan civil war, had no immediate comment, but said Sunday the execution-style killings were done by Gadhafi's fleeing forces.

Human Rights Watch said, "If the NTC fails to investigate this crime, it will signal that those who fought against Gadhafi can do anything without fear of prosecution."

Controversy has raged over the circumstances of Gadhafi's death after he was taken alive during the fall of Sirte, his hometown. The transitional council insists Gadhafi died as a result of crossfire while many sources spoke of a summary execution.