Libya to try Kadhafi killers

BENGHAZI: Libya's new rulers said on Thursday they would prosecute the killers of ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi following the international outcry over the circumstances of his death.

"With regards to Kadhafi, 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 (Kadhafi'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 Kadhafi's death and potential abuses.

His statement came as NATO weighed a possible new role in Libya following Kadhafi's controversial death, as France said the UN would vote on Thursday to end the alliance's mandate for an air war on October 31.

Global disquiet has grown over how Kadhafi 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. (AFP)