Other government fighters who said they took part in Gaddafi’s capture, separately confirmed Bakeer’s version of events, though one said the man who ruled Libya for 42 years was shot and wounded at the last minute by one of his own men.

“One of Muammar Gaddafi’s guards shot him in the chest,” said Omran Jouma Shawan.

There were also other versions of events. NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters Gaddafi had been finally cornered in a compound in Sirte after hours of fighting, and wounded in a gun battle with NTC forces.

He said Gaddafi kept repeating “What is the matter? What’s going on? What do you want?” and resisted as NTC fighters seized him. He added that Gaddafi died of his wounds as he was being transported in an ambulance.

“He was bleeding from his stomach. It took a long time to transport him. He bled to death (in the ambulance),” he said.

Another NTC official, speaking to Reuters anonymously, gave a violent account of Gaddafi’s death: “They (NTC fighters) beat him very harshly and then they killed him. This is a war.”