Ding, dong, the witch is dead

Rico says, okay, not a witch, exactly, but Josh Voorhees has the story of the death of Qaddafi in Slate:

Muammar Qaddafi is dead, Libya’s interim government has announced: “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time: Muammar Qaddafi has been killed,” Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said at a news conference in Tripoli, confirming earlier reports of the former Libyan strongman's demise.
Qaddafi is said to have died of wounds suffered during his capture near his hometown of Sirte, his final remaining stronghold in the nation that he ruled with an iron fist for more than four decades.
News of Qaddafi’s death first began to trickle in earlier, with conflicting reports surfacing about whether Libya’s former leader had been killed or merely captured. It was not immediately clear exactly when Qaddafi’s injuries occurred, and what role NATO played in the attack that appears to have led to his death.
One official, Abdel Majid Mlegta, said that Qaddafi had been wounded in both legs as he attempted to flee Sirte in a convoy that had been attacked at dawn by NATO warplanes. "There was a lot of firing against his group, and he died," Mlegta told Reuters. A second official, Abdel Kahim Bihajj, announced the news of Qaddafi’s death on al-Jazeera television.
Qaddafi’s apparent death made headlines across the world, but Western media outlets were initially quick to caution that they had yet to independently confirmed either Qaddafi’s death or capture, but the coverage's tone later changed as additional reporting continued to roll in. A number of television outlets broadcast grainy digital video of what appeared to be Qaddafi’s bloodied body, although it remains unclear if the footage was legitimate. Asked if there is photographic evidence to prove that Qaddafi is indeed dead, Mlegta told Reuters: “We have the footage, but it is not available now.”

World leaders were cautious, speaking mostly in hypotheticals. The White House and the State Department have not yet confirmed the news, although Libyan officials have said they have alerted the Obama administration that Qaddafi is dead. Speaking in New Hampshire after the news broke, Vice President Joe Biden stopped short of confirming Qaddafi's death. President Obama was set to deliver remarks in the Rose Garden later in the day. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Qaddafi's capture or death would “add legitimacy and relief to the formation of a new government” in Libya.
News of Qaddafi’s death ignited celebrations in Libya, where people took to the streets en mass in the nation's capital of Tripoli to celebrate.


According to the unconfirmed reports from Libyan television, Qaddafi was found by NTC soldiers hiding in one of two large drainage pipes under a highway, where he had apparently taken shelter. It is unclear if he was armed at the time of his capture.
Qaddafi’s death would bring an end to a multiweek man-hunt for the Colonel. More importantly, it would also likely signal an end to months of fighting between the revolutionaries who waged a civil war to overthrow the nation’s longtime ruler and pro-Qaddafi loyalists who battled to protect the status quo.
Rebels stormed Qaddafi’s fortified compound in Tripoli at the end of August hoping to find the embattled Libyan strongman there, but it remains unclear if he was ever present when that siege began. Shortly after he lost control of Tripoli, Qaddafi released a series of radio broadcasts urging his supporters to fight on, and promising either “martyrdom or victory.”

Rico says the bastard fortunately got martyrdom, and (wherever he is) Rico hopes the fucker is enjoying it...