Gadhafi's body in temporary cold storage

TRIPOLI, Libya, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Moammar Gadhafi's body remained in cold storage Friday at a mosque in Misurata, Libya, amid calls for an investigation into his death, officials said.

Amnesty International said video footage of Gadhafi's capture indicated he was alive when rebels took him into custody in his hometown of Sirte, the last bastion of loyalist forces.

"If Colonel Gadhafi was killed after his capture, it would constitute a war crime and those responsible should be brought to justice," Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty International, said in a statement on the organization's Web site.

"Investigating whether or not his death was a war crime might be unpopular. However, the NTC (National Transitional Council) must apply the same standards to all, affording justice even to those who categorically denied it to others."

Gadhafi, who ruled over Libya for 42 years after coming to power in a coup, died Thursday as he tried to flee Sirte, but it was unclear if he was mortally wounded in a clash with rebels or was captured and then killed.

Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Gadhafi was shot in the head in cross-fire. Other NTC officials said he bled to death en route to a hospital or he was killed by fighters after capture.

Amnesty said if the council cannot conduct a full and impartial investigation, the International Criminal Court should take over.

"Summary executions are strictly illegal under any circumstances. It's different if someone is killed in combat," Rupert Colville, a U.N. human rights spokesman, was quoted as saying by Voice of America. "There was a civil war taking place in Libya, so if the person died as part of the combat, that's a different issue. That's normally acceptable in the circumstances. But if something else has happened, someone is captured and then deliberately killed, that's a very serious matter."

While Muslim burials are supposed to take place as soon as possible after death, the investigation and the wish to prevent Gadhafi's burial site from becoming a shrine for his followers mean a delay with the body held at a mosque in Misurata. The body of his son, Muatassim, was shown publicly in the same town.

Libyan leaders are considering sea burial, a step the United States took with the body of Osama bin Laden.

An NTC fighter said he found Gadhafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, hiding in a drain pipe. The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol. He said he had confiscated it from Gadhafi, who had been in hiding since rebels seized control of Tripoli in August.

Senior NTC member Mohammed Sayeh told the BBC he didn't think Gadhafi was deliberately killed but even if he was, "I think he deserves this."

"If they kill him 1,000 times, I think it will not pay back the Libyans what he has done," Sayeh said. "We've lost over 70,000 of our best men because of this monster."

Amnesty International also called for "a full, independent and impartial inquiry" into circumstances surrounding Gadhafi's death.

The NTC was expected to formally announce the liberation of Libya Saturday in Benghazi, considered ground zero for the country's pro-democracy movement, the BBC said.