Libya declared free, but Gaddafi death questioned

---

TRIPOLI, Libya, Oct 24 (AP): Libya's interim rulers have declared the country liberated after an 8-month civil war, launching the oil-rich nation on what is meant to be a two-year transition to democracy. But they laid out plans with an Islamist tone that could rattle their Western backers. The joyful Sunday ceremony formally marking the end of Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year tyranny was also clouded by mounting pressure from the leaders of the NATO campaign that helped secure victory to investigate whether Gaddafi, dragged wounded but alive out of a drainage ditch last week, was then executed by his captors. The circumstances of Gaddafi's death remain unclear. In separate accounts late Sunday, two Libyan fighters said Gaddafi was hurt after being captured, but was able to stand. One said that when he and others placed Gaddafi in an ambulance, the former Libyan leader had not yet suffered what Libya's chief pathologist said was a fatal gunshot to the head. Critics said the gruesome spectacle of his blood-streaked body laid out as a trophy for a third day of public viewing in a commercial freezer tests the new leadership's commitment to the rule of law. Britain's defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said the Libyan revolutionaries' image had been "a little bit stained" by Gaddafi's violent death. Both he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said a full investigation is necessary. Gaddafi's capture and the fall of his hometown of Sirte, the last loyalist stronghold, set the stage for the long-awaited declaration of liberation, delivered by the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. He did not mention the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death - mobile phone videos showed the wounded leader being taunted and beaten by a mob after his capture. But he urged his people to avoid hatred.