Iran criticizes Saudi U.N. resolution

Iran is sharply criticizing a draft U.N. General Assembly resolution because it refers to an alleged Iranian plot against a Saudi ambassador, an assertion the Islamic republic calls "unsubstantiated."

In addition, a high-ranking Iranian official visiting the United Nations on Wednesday criticized the United States and other Western countries for unfairly targeting his country for its nuclear program.

The Saudi resolution, which condemns terrorism and attacks on diplomats, "deplores that plot" and makes note of a letter from the United States reporting what it characterizes as an "Iranian plot."

The resolution also calls on Iran "to comply with all of its obligations under international law" and to cooperate in "seeking to bring to justice" the people who planned to kill the envoy.

It was expected to be introduced in a meeting Wednesday afternoon and may come to a vote by the entire General Assembly on Friday, a Saudi U.N. mission spokesman said.

Mohammad Khazaee, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, said it would be a "gross disservice" to put "hypothetical, circumstantial and unsubstantiated matters" on the General Assembly's agenda. The United States says Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force is behind the plot, but Iran denies the accusation. Such a resolution "would significantly undermine the role, authority, integrity, and credibility of the General Assembly as the highest and universal political body of the United Nations," Khazaee said.

The draft makes references to the U.N. global counterterrorism strategy. But Iran contends the United States exploits the document and undermines it. It said the United States has backed terror acts against Iranians, including diplomats.

"The United States' attitude with regard to the alleged plot, which began with an explosive media campaign against Iran, and its long-standing hostile policies, is unconstructive and reveals once again the latter's ill intentions," Khazaee said.

Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have been accused of conspiring to hire hit men from a Mexican drug cartel to bomb a restaurant where the ambassador would have been.

Authorities developed the case against the suspects with the help of an undercover informant posing as an associate of a Mexican drug cartel, according to officials and an FBI agent's affidavit.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary general for Iran's High Council for Human Rights, told reporters that the recent International Atomic Energy Agency report about Iran's nuclear program was "a disgrace for the agency."

"It doesn't include any evidence," he said. "It is based on a laptop which was given to them by the United States four years ago."

The report, which was released last week, stated that Iran was acquiring the technology for a nuclear weapons program.

Larijani reiterated his country's position that its program is exclusively of a civilian nature.

Asked about the nuclear weapons trigger the report says Iran has been working on, he called it a "laughable allegation," saying the device is used in several "technological devices." He added that the "United States and a number of European countries, they do not want this issue to be settled. They want to keep that as a vehicle of pressure on Iran."

Larijani continued chastising the United States by saying that "American policy in the region is falling apart. It is witnessing drastic failures, especially in Afghanistan." He said that "when President Obama came to power and promised change, I was hopeful we could formalize change, but I think this hope was wrong totally."

He was also asked about the uprising going on in neighboring Syria, an Iranian ally. He said that "any incitement to violence by the United States and Western countries and regional countries to export and send armed groups inside Syria" or to recommend that people use a gun in the uprising is very dangerous.

"All the hands should be cut off from this kind of interference," he said.

Islamic Jihad: Israeli forces strike training camp

Two Islamic Jihad commanders were among seven militants killed Saturday by Israeli strikes targeting a training camp in Rafah, Gaza, according to the militant group and medical sources.

Two other members of the organization were injured, medical sources said.

"Our response will be inside Israel very soon," said Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for the militant group.

After Israeli forces struck the training camp Saturday, militants fired three rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, according to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

One struck a building in Ashdod, he said. An Israeli man in Gan Yavne was slightly injured by shrapnel.

A graduation ceremony was taking place at the time of the original Israeli strikes, Ahmed said. At least 10 other people were wounded in the attack, witnesses said.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said it targeted a terrorist group in southern Gaza that was preparing to fire long-range rockets into Israel. The spokesman would not name the group, but said it was part of a larger organization.

The Israeli airstrikes targeted the same group responsible for recent rocket attacks on the Israeli port city of Ashdod, according to the Israeli military spokesman.

Body of Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz arrives in Riyadh

The body of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the heir to the Saudi throne who died in New York on Saturday, arrived Monday in the Saudi capital, greeted by crowds of people, authorities and troops.

The body was flown into Riyadh Air Base, according to two Saudi government officials.

The death of Sultan, the half-brother of King Abdullah, raises succession questions in the key oil-producing country at a time of turmoil in the Arab world.

Sultan was thought to be in his 80s. He had been ill for some time -- various reports indicated he was battling cancer -- and was receiving treatment in a New York hospital at the time of his death.

His burial is scheduled for Tuesday, officials have said.

Sultan had served for decades as the Saudi defense minister. President Barack Obama called him a "valued friend" of the United States.

Ascension to the Saudi throne does not pass from father to son. Instead, it's a complex process, and decisions in the conservative kingdom are often cloaked in secrecy.

King Abdullah set up the Allegiance Council in 2006 to allow for more transparency in the succession. It was unclear when the group, made up of members of the royal family, will be employed to make a decision on the next crown prince.

Sultan's death leaves his brother Nayef, a reputed conservative, as the likely successor. Nayef has served as the Saudi interior minister since 1975 and oversaw the kingdom's counterterrorism efforts.

Sultan took a leading role in Saudi Arabia's involvement in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, heading a coalition of about half a million troops from more than 30 countries.

Abdullah left a hospital in Riyadh on Saturday following successful back surgery, the Saudi Press Agency reported. It was the third back surgery in the past year for the 87-year-old king.

Yemeni women burn veils to protest

Yemeni women defiantly burned their traditional veils Wednesday in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

Thousands of women gathered in the capital, Sanaa, said witnesses. They carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes in Ali Saleh."

They collected their veils and scarves in a huge pile and set it ablaze -- an act that is highly symbolic in the conservative Islamic nation, where women use their veils to cover their faces and bodies. It's the first time in the nine months of Yemen's uprising that such an event has occurred.

Inspired by Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman's Nobel Peace Prize this month, more and more Yemeni women have taken to the streets and escalated their campaign for help from the international community.

More than 60 women were attacked in October alone by the government, said protester Ruqaiah Nasser. Government forces are raiding homes and also killing children, she said.
She said silence from tribal leaders on the matter is a "disgrace."

"We will not stay quiet and will defend ourselves if our men can't defend us," Nasser said. "Tribes must understand they will not be respected by Yemeni women if they stay quiet while their women are being attacked by the Saleh regime. Tribes who ignore our calls are cowards and have no dignity."

"Saleh is killing women and children and this is against tribal culture," she said. "Where are their voices when we need them? It's a disgrace if they stay quiet."

The women's protests came after the Yemeni government announced a cease-fire Tuesday. But that did not appear to be holding.

At least 10 people died and dozens were injured earlier Tuesday in clashes between Yemeni government security forces in the country's capital and the province of Taiz, medical officials reported.

Yemen's government has said that opposition-supported militants are responsible for the violence.

Saleh summoned the U.S. ambassador and reiterated a promise to sign an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in which he would step aside in exchange for immunity from prosecution, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

However, Saleh has repeatedly promised to sign the council-backed deal and not done so. The embattled leader has clung to power through the protracted protests.

Iraqi Speaker Warns of Neighboring Countries After U.S. Troops Leave

The speaker of Iraq's parliament on Monday accused neighboring nations of meddling in Iraqi affairs and signaled it will only get worse if the country is seen as vulnerable after U.S. troops leave at the end of the year.

Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni Muslim, did not name the Mideast nations and did not offer specifics. Iraq's Sunnis long have worried about Iran's burgeoning influence in Baghdad, where the Shiite-dominated government has built ties with Tehran since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.

Top U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, voiced similar concerns over the weekend.

"Iraq now suffers from points of weakness," al-Nujaifi told a news conference in Baghdad. "If neighboring countries see that Iraq is weak and incapable of protecting its borders and internal security, then definitely there will be interference. This interference does exist now."

Limiting Iran's influence in Baghdad was a top U.S. pitch to keep American troops in Iraq past the Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline set in a 2008 security agreement. Washington has feared that meddling by Iran, a Shiite Muslim theocracy, could inflame tensions between Iraq's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis, setting off a chain reaction of violence and disputes across the Mideast.

About 39,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, down from 166,000 in October 2007, the peak of the American military surge to curb sectarian killings that brought the country to the brink of civil war. Nearly all will leave after Iraq's government and the U.S. failed this month to reach an agreement on a few thousand to stay and continue training security forces.

Speaking to reporters in Bali, Indonesia, Panetta noted that an estimated 40,000 U.S. troops will be stationed across the Mideast even after the Iraq withdrawal, including about 23,000 in neighboring Kuwait.

"So we will always have a force that will be present and that will deal with any threats from Iran," Panetta said.

Iraq is located between Iran and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Iraq has seen terrorist traffic cross over its Syrian border and is grappling with a rebel force in its north that has for years targeted Turkey.

Al-Nujaifi suggested stepped up diplomatic talks across the Mideast "because a stable Iraq will bring stability to the whole region."

With the military withdrawal, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will shoulder much of the responsibility of training Iraqi forces, with the help of a small number of NATO troops. But a report released early Monday cast deep doubt on the Embassy's ability to do so, noting that a State Department program to train Iraqi police lacks focus, could become a "bottomless pit" of American money and may not even be wanted by the Iraqi department it's supposed to help.

The findings by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction paint what is supposed to be the State Department's flagship program in Iraq in a harsh light. It found that only a small portion -- about 12 percent -- of the millions of dollars budgeted will actually go to helping the Iraqi police.

The "vast preponderance of money" will pay for security and other items like living quarters for the people doing the training, the review found. It also said that although the State Department has known since 2009 it would be taking over the training program, it failed to develop a comprehensive and detailed plan for the training.

"Without specific goals, objectives and performance measures, the PDP (Police Development Program) could become a 'bottomless pit' for U.S. dollars intended for mentoring, advising and training the Iraqi police forces," the report stated.

Moreover, the Iraqi government has yet to sign off on the program and doesn't seem to want it. The report quoted Adnan al-Asadi, who oversees daily operations at Iraq's Ministry of Interior (MOI) as suggesting the U.S. should spend the money on something for the American people instead.

"What tangible benefit will Iraqis see from this police training program? With most of the money spent on lodging, security, support, all the MOI gets is a little expertise, and that is if the program materializes. It has yet to start," al-Asadi said.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad did not respond to a request for comment. In a letter to SIGIR, the State Department said it "generally agrees" with the report's recommendations but defended its efforts.

Few dispute, however, that Iraqi police are far from ready to fully protect their country -- or even themselves.

On Monday, police and health officials said four separate attacks against traffic police in Baghdad killed two policemen and three civilians. Twelve people, including eight police, were injured.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Threats Against U.S. Ambassador Safety in Syria

The Obama administration pulled its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, blaming President Bashar Assad's regime for the threats that made it no longer safe for Robert Ford to remain. The Syrian government quickly ordered home its envoy to the United States, raising the diplomatic stakes.

Ford traveled to Washington this weekend after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday. Ford has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, and enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests and harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives.

"We hope that the Syrian regime will end its incitement campaign against Ambassador Ford," Toner said. "At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria."

Toner said the U.S. embassy will remain open in Damascus and that the threats were specifically directed toward Ford. His return is conditional on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground," Toner said.

In an immediate response, Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha promptly left the U.S. on Monday, said Roua Shurbaji, a Syrian Embassy spokeswoman. She said no other steps were being taken by the embassy and declined to comment on the U.S. allegations.

Ford was the first American ambassador to Syria since 2005. President George W. Bush's administration withdrew a full-time ambassador from Syria over charges the country was involved in terrorism and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria has denied any involvement.

The Obama administration decided to return an ambassador to Syria earlier this year in an effort to persuade Syria to change its policies regarding Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.

Although Ford's appointment in January, while the Senate was out of session, was originally criticized by some Republicans in Congress, he has won praise within the administration and beyond for his determination to meet Syrian opposition leaders in a hostile environment, and tough criticism of the Assad regime's brutal military response to mass demonstrations.

The Senate unanimously approved Ford's nomination earlier this month, with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, praising Ford for continuing to visit cities under siege and "speak truth to power."

Ford was greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers when he traveled to the restive city of Hama in July, prompting immediate recriminations from the Syrian government, which tried to then limit where Ford could travel. Only days later hundreds of regime supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the walls.

Ford also has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, often in coordination with pro-Assad media capturing the humiliation. Media reports said Ford was hit last week with eggs and tomatoes while going to a mosque in Damascus. Other such incidents have occurred after meetings with dissident groups or individuals, and his postings on Facebook have provoked thousands of Syrian and other responses, and even some death threats from pro-Assad hardliners.

The U.S. last month decried Ford's treatment and "unwarranted and unjustifiable," after Assad supporters tried to force their way into a meeting he was having a prominent opposition figure. Syrian police were slow in responding, and Ford was trapped inside the building for about three hours. But White House press secretary James Carney insisted at the time that the U.S. had no plans to remove Ford for his safety.

Haynes Mahoney, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, confirmed that Ford has left Syria but said Washington hadn't not formally recalled him -- a symbolically significant diplomatic step.

At the time of Ford's arrival in Damascus, Syria was bouncing back from years of international isolation. Still, Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as the Arab Spring protests escalated in Syria, Ford dropped his engagement efforts and took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters.

Toner lamented that the threats deprived the United States of a valuable emissary to the Syrian people at a time they face daily violence from Assad's security forces. Clashes on Sunday saw forces flood into villages where residents have been on strike and shoot two people dead, according to activists.

President Barack Obama has called on the U.N. Security Council to sanction Syria for using deadly violence against citizens who are rising up against the authoritarian government there.

A seasoned diplomat with extensive Middle East experience, Ford "has worked diligently to deliver our message and be our eyes on the ground" in Syria, Toner said. "This decision was based solely on the need to ensure his safety, a matter we take extremely seriously."

Jordan's king warns: 'No one has any idea what to do about Syria,'

No one has any idea how to deal with what's happening in Syria, Jordan's King Abdullah told CNN, saying he has "great concern" about how things will develop there.

"I don't think there's anybody in the region or outside who knows how to tackle the Syria issue," Jordan's ruler said of the country that has seen thousands killed in anti-government demonstrations over the past eight months.

The king has reached out personally to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad, he said, with little result.

"I've spoken to Bashar twice. I have sent the chief of the royal court to see him on several occasions," he said, to outline how Jordan is trying to implement its own political reforms.

"Not that we've got anything perfect, but you know, national dialogue and outreach -- and they're not really interested in what we have to say," King Abdullah said.

"So we're trying to keep the channels of communication open and watching with great concern how things are going to develop there," he said.

Speaking to CNN on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting on the shores of the Dead Sea, the king also expressed serious doubts that Israel was serious about making peace with the Palestinians.
"I am one of the most optimistic people you'll meet in the Middle East, and for the first time I am very pessimistic about the Israelis and Palestinians moving forward," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says all the right things about how to reach a solution, the king said, but he sighed deeply when asked if Netanyahu was sincere.

"From what I have seen of the political system in Israel.... Israel is not really interested in a two-state solution," Abdullah said.

"And what's the other option? I think the one-state solution has tremendous negative implications on all of us, including the Israelis," he said.

And he pleaded with the Americans not to disengage from the region during U.S. election season, warning that to so do risks war.

"That would be disastrous because whenever there is a vacuum, whenever there is a status quo, there's usually a war. And so we're missing a tremendous opportunity," he said.

The focus has to remain on the Israelis and Palestinians because they are the central issue in the region, he said.

"I think the Arab Spring was a good opportunity for some to ignore the core issue that's always been here, that is, the future of the Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

Jordan itself is moving on from the Arab Spring, he suggested, preparing for national elections next year.

"We're going from the Arab Spring to the Arab Summer," the king said.

Man accused of plotting to kill Saudi ambassador

Manssor Arbabsiar, one of two men implicated in an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court in New York.

The second man indicted in the alleged plot, Gholam Shakuri, remains at large.

Judge John Keenan scheduled the next court date in the case for December 21 to allow the defense time to study documents involved in the discovery process, some of which are classified.

U.S. officials arrested Arbabsiar, 56, on suspicion that he conspired with Shakuri, allegedly an Iran-based member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to hire hit men from a Mexican drug cartel to set off a bomb at a restaurant to be visited by Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said the assassination-for-hire accusations are baseless.
U.S. officials have said the alleged scheme involved a connection to the Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

Iranian press reports have said Shakuri is an agent of an exiled Iranian opposition group.

In an interview Saturday with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the allegations.

"Do we need really to kill the ambassador of a brotherly country? What is the reason and the interest behind that?" he said. "We never have any intention to hurt Saudi Arabia. Do we really want to do it in the United States? And is that the way, really?"

Authorities developed the case against the suspects with the help of an undercover informant posing as an associate of a Mexican drug cartel, according to officials and an FBI agent's affidavit.

Arbabsiar and the informant allegedly discussed using explosives to kill the ambassador, possibly in a crowded restaurant, according to the affidavit.

The informant named $1.5 million as his price, it said. Arbabsiar told the informant his "cousin" has deep pockets, court documents say, and allegedly sent $100,000 intended as a down payment.

According to the five-count indictment, Arbabsiar wired money to an undercover bank account maintained by the FBI. In the spring, Shakuri provided money to Arbabsiar for expenses, it contends.

Arbabsiar was arrested in September.

Both defendants are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official; conspiracy to engage in foreign travel and use interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives); and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism transcending national boundaries.

Arbabsiar also is charged with a count of foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, prosecutors said.

U.S. pulls ambassador out of Syria over safety concerns

The United States has temporarily pulled its ambassador out of Syria as a "result of credible threats against his personal safety," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday, accusing Syria of "incitement" against Ambassador Robert Ford.

"At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria," Toner said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, was recalled to Damascus "for consultations," embassy spokeswoman Roua Shurbaji said Monday.

Shurbaji had no information about why Moustapha was recalled or how long he will be gone. The deputy chief of mission in Washington will be filling Moustapha's role while he is gone, she said.

Ford was attacked by a pro-government "armed mob" last month, a United States official told CNN at the time. The official is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.

While there have been long-standing concerns about Ford's safety and threats against him, the decision was made to pull him temporarily after government-sponsored Syrian media began running false reports blaming Ford for death squads in Syria similar to the ones in Iraq, senior State Department officials told CNN.

The department was afraid the reports would inflame sentiment against Ford and would prompt pro-regime hardliners to harm and perhaps kill him, the officials said.

"We are concerned about a campaign of regime-led incitement targeted personally at Ambassador Ford by the state-run media of the government of Syria and we are concerned about the security situation that that has created," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Monday. "... I want to take this opportunity to call on the government of Syria to immediately end its smear campaign of malicious and deceitful propaganda against Ambassador Ford."

Ford, who has been outspoken against the Syrian government's use of violence against protesters, is seen by Syrian government supporters as an activist more than a diplomat.
He sparked a diplomatic firestorm in July when he traveled to the restive city of Hama to express support for demonstrators. He was welcomed with flowers by local residents who had suffered a brutal crackdown by government forces. President Bashar al-Assad's government called the trip an attempt to foment dissent.

A crowd tried to assault Ford and embassy colleagues September 29 "as they went about doing the normal work of any embassy," Toner said at the time.

"The mob was violent; it tried, unsuccessfully, to attack embassy personnel while they were inside several embassy vehicles, seriously damaging the vehicles in the process," Toner said.

Syrian security officers helped secure a path back to the U.S. Embassy for the ambassador and his staff.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned what she described as "an unwarranted attack" when Ford and his aides were conducting "normal embassy business."

The department does plan on sending Ford back, the officials said. It is hoped that his stay in the United States will be a brief cooling-off period and that the United States can persuade the Syrian government to abide by its obligations under the Vienna Convention to protect foreign diplomats in their country, they said.

"We do expect that Ambassador Ford will be returning to Damascus after his consultations are completed," Nuland said.

The department feels Ford serves a useful function as the United States' eyes and ears in the country, the officials said. In addition to serving as a witness to the regime's violence against protesters, he is seen as a key link to the opposition.

Ford was confirmed as ambassador to Syria in April after five years during which Washington did not have an envoy in Damascus.

Relations between Syria and the United States have been tense in recent months as Syria clamped down on demonstrations against Assad. At least 3,000 people have died, the United Nations and other international observers estimate.

Earlier this month, a Syrian man was arrested in the United States, accused of spying on Syrians demonstrating in the United States. Syria rejected the indictment's claim that Mohamad Anas Heitham Soueid worked for Syria's intelligence agency, the Mukhabarat.

And it described as "ludicrous" the indictment's assertion that Soueid, a Syrian-born American citizen, had met privately with Assad.

how did Gadhafi end up dead, If he was captured alive?

The death of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi helped solidify the National Transitional Council's power in Libya, but there is still a large amount of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding how he was killed, what happened during the last battle in Sirte and what it all means for the future of Libya.

When Gadhafi's death was first reported, it came with a large amount of uncertainty.

Multiple scenarios emerged as to how the last minutes of his life played out, thanks to cell phone pictures and videos, many later uploaded to YouTube. Then, there were statements from officials from NATO, from within Libya and from the National Transitional Council about what happened.

And as the country prepares to move on, the international community searches for answers as to exactly what happened in the minutes after Gadhafi was captured.

What exactly do we know about how Gadhafi was captured?

We know that the events leading to Gadhafi's death began about 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Libya, according to a NATO official, when a convoy of loyalists made a break from a part of Sirte and headed west, trying to get out of the city.

Gadhafi had long been suspected of being holed up in his hometown, which was one of the only remaining regime strongholds.

U.S. drones and French fighter jets struck the convoy, splitting it up and forcing the loyalists to scurry away on foot.  A NATO official said Gadhafi was in that convoy, though he was not hit.

Gadhafi fled with a handful of his men. The revolutionaries found him hiding in a drainage pipe.

Mahmoud Jibril, Executive Chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council, said that after Gadhafi was found, a gunbattle erupted between transitional council fighters and Gadhafi's supporters. His captors attempted to load him into a vehicle, leaving Gadhafi with a wound to his right arm.

Video out of Sirte showed what appeared to be a heavily wounded and bloodied Gadhafi being held up by NTC fighters as they took him toward a vehicle.

What happened after that is more murky.

What do we know about how Gadhafi died?

When Gadhafi was captured, he was, by all accounts, alive.

Several videos from the scene showed Gadhafi looking wounded and confused but alive and even walking as he was pulled toward a vehicle.

Jibril said Gadhafi was shot in the arm as he was dragged into a vehicle headed to Misrata, a two-and-a-half-hour trip.

But the autopsy report from the chief pathologist said Gadhafi died of a gunshot wound to the head.

So how did Gadhafi go from being captured to being shot in the head?

It depends on whom you ask, and there are many details that simply are not confirmed.

Leaders of Libya's interim government have said Gadhafi was killed in that crossfire after fighters captured him in Sirte.

But videos and pictures coming out of Libya lead to more questions about what shot may have killed the leader.

Some members of the international community had hoped there would be some more clarity from the autopsy report.  But the doctor who conducted the examination would not disclose whether findings revealed that he suffered the wound in crossfire or at close range, a key question that has prompted the United Nations and international human rights groups to call for an investigation into the final moments of Gadhafi's life.

Jibril, the transitional prime minister, said that as the vehicle carrying the wounded Gadhafi drove away, more shooting erupted, and that was when Gadhafi was shot in the head.

Mohammed Sayeh, a senior member of the council, said that in the hail of gunfire, Gadhafi was shot in the feet and then in his head.

"I cannot tell you whether it was from far or near, but it was unintentional," he said. "No one decided to kill him or slaughter him. It would have been much better for us Libyans and the whole universe to capture him and take him to a court."

But in a new video from Reuters, a man standing next to an ambulance claims he killed the ousted leader, and another man claims he saw it happen. The group surrounding him applauds and hugs the self-described gunman.

There were no more specifics given about the fatal shot.

Saleh says he is ready to step down

Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Wednesday he was ready to sign a Gulf-brokered deal for him to quit office but demanded American and European guarantees on a timetable.
“I would sign. But provide guarantees to implement the Gulf initiative,” Saleh, reiterating his claimed willingness to leave power after 33 years in office, told a party meeting, Saba state news agency reported.

“We want, first, Gulf guarantees, second, European, and third, American. These three guarantees should accompany the Gulf initiative,” he added, standing defiant after nine months of deadly protests demanding his ouster.

“Part of the pressure being exerted now stems from demands that it (the deal) is signed without any conditions and that the time framework (for implementation) be discussed at a later stage,” he complained.

Under the terms of the Gulf initiative tabled earlier this year, Saleh would hand power to the vice president 30 days after the signing, and he and his aides would be granted immunity from prosecution by parliament.

A national unity government led by a prime minister from the opposition would be formed, and a presidential election would follow 60 days after Saleh’s departure.

“We have said that we are ready to endorse the (Gulf) initiative, but do you not want us to discuss the time framework for its mechanism,” added the veteran leader whose presidential term ends in 2013.

He did not elaborate on the timetable he wants.

The United Nations human rights office had said on Tuesday that any power transfer deal in Yemen should not include an amnesty for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose security forces are accused of killing largely peaceful protesters and other crimes, as Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakul Karman called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the actions of the Yemeni government.

Karman made an impassioned plea to the United Nations to repudiate a Gulf Arab plan that would grant immunity to her country’s “war criminal” president.

A proposed power transfer plan brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would offer immunity to Saleh and those serving under him in exchange for his stepping down.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to make a decision this week on a resolution to “strongly condemn” the government’s human rights violations. The draft resolution, obtained by Reuters in New York, urges Saleh to “immediately sign and implement” the plan by the six-nation GCC, according to Reuters.

“We’ve not seen the details of the initiative put forth by the GCC so we can’t comment on the specifics of that proposed deal. However, international law is pretty clear on this issue. It prohibits the use of amnesties that prevent the prosecution of individuals for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or gross violations of human rights,” U.N. rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

“So that’s the general position on amnesties which would apply in this situation, as in any other,” he added, speaking in response to a reporter’s question.

The office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemns the killing of largely peaceful protesters in the cities of Sana’a and Taez by Yemeni security forces wielding indiscriminate force, Colville said.

Four days of violence

At least 34 people have been killed in the last four days, including six on Tuesday, in the intensifying crackdown.

“In addition to those killed, hundreds of people have been reportedly injured by the disproportionate use of force against unarmed protesters,” Colville said.

An international, independent investigation was required to hold perpetrators accountable and render justice to victims.

“We are extremely concerned that security forces continue to use excessive force in a climate of impunity for crimes that are resulting in heavy loss of life and injury, despite repeated pledges by the government to the contrary,” he added.

Amnesty International has said that Saleh should not be immune from prosecution and those responsible for extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances should be brought to justice as part of any transition agreement.

Saleh, who says he is ready to step down but wants to ensure that control of the country is put in “safe hands,” has rejected the GCC plan three times.

Saleh, who has ruled the impoverished country for 33 years, has stayed in office despite 10 months of mass protests against his rule inspired by pro-democracy unrest across the Arab world.

Opposition to him has turned increasingly violent and organized, threatening to pitch Yemen into all-out civil war.

The U.N. rights office also called on armed opponents of Saleh’s government to remove weapons from public spaces being used by peaceful protesters and to “stop launching armed attacks from densely-populated areas.”

Karman leads protests outside U.N.

Karman joined about 100 protesters Tuesday outside the United Nations to call for Saleh to stand down.

“We came here to tell that Ali Abdullah Saleh and (Syrian leader) Bashar al-Assad are both criminals and they have to be held accountable and prosecuted,” Karman said.

“People are living on sidewalks and are being killed everyday... All because they asked for democracy and justice,” she said according to AFP.

“These regimes are a danger to international security,” she added, speaking through a translator.

Karman, who shared the 2011 Nobel prize with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and “peace warrior” Leymah Gbowee also from Liberia, has called on the United Nations to act immediately to halt the Yemeni government's crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

“As a Yemeni leader, as a Nobel Prize winner, as a leader of the Arab Spring, I came here to tell them to stand up for these rights,” Karman said.

“We’re calling on them to treat the revolutions in Yemen and Syria just like they did in Libya.”

“I feel ashamed that tonight I will be sleeping in a hotel and my people will be sleeping in the streets.”

Karman and tens of thousands of other pro-democracy activists have camped out in Sanaa’s Change Square for months, marching against Saleh despite a violent crackdown by government troops that has killed hundreds since the mass protest movement began in late January.

U.N. diplomats told Reuters that they hoped the draft resolution, which was penned by Britain in consultation with France, the United States, Russia and China, would be put to a vote and approved before the end of the week.

Russia and China, which vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown, are not planning to block the Yemen resolution, council diplomats say.

Syria, Yemen warn dictators: You're next

Dictators around the Middle East should pay close attention to the fate of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, opposition activists from Syria and Yemen said Thursday as reports of Gadhafi's death flashed across the world.

"This is a lesson for all dictatorships: The clear fate of all who kill his people is to end up under the feet of the nation," said Omar Al-Muqdad, a Syrian opposition activist in exile in Turkey.

The opposition Syrian National Assembly "blesses the Libyan people that got rid of an infamous dictator such as Gadhafi," he said.

He said it would give a push to efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, saying he would suffer "the same fate" if he fell.

Opponents of longtime Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh also drew inspiration from the reports about Gadhafi.

"Whether he was killed or not, I hope Saleh is watching the news closely," Yemeni blogger Afrah Nasser said before Gadhafi's death was confirmed by Libya's governing National Transition Council.

She said she hopes the Yemeni opposition will get international support -- if not necessarily the military intervention that NATO gave Libya's revolutionary fighters.

"The support we need is sanctions against Saleh and boycott of Saleh's regime and acknowledgment of Yemen's (opposition) national council," she said from Sweden, where she fled in the face of threats in Yemen.

"I hope that Ali Abdullah Saleh and his regime learn a lesson from what happened to Gadhafi and his government," said Mohammed Abulahoum, head of Yemen's opposition Justice and Development Party. "Saleh must understand that the only scenario left for him, other than stepping down, is what happened to Gadhafi."

Regional expert David Hartwell agreed that Gadhafi's death could have "ripple effects" in the region, spreading the way the Arab Spring did.

"I think what we've seen in the past is that Tunisia had the effect of emboldening the opposition in Egypt," he said. "That has ripple effects out to Yemen and Libya itself."

Yemen is closer to a change of power than Syria, he said.

"Saleh is already edging toward the door anyway. This could have the effect of pushing him through it," said Hartwell, senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at IHS Global Insight in London.

"Syrians may come to see that Libyans removed a dictator who was completely entrenched," he said, "(but) we're not at that point yet, though there have been defections from the army.

"There are local factors in Syria that are going to make it much more difficult to have an effect -- the middle classes in Syria have yet to really throw their lot in with the opposition," he said.

"The situation is going to go along for the foreseeable future," he said.

Radiating out from countries already in turmoil, more changes could be in store for the Middle East in the next few years, he said.

"Further down the line you may see disturbances in other countries," he said, adding that "Bahrain has been postponed rather than resolved ... Iran, when there are presidential elections in two years -- but for the moment it's Syria and Yemen."

Gadhafi's Photo after Death

Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed October 20 in his home town of Sirte, as forces from the National Transitional Council overran and liberated the city.
Three of Gadhafi's children have fled the country and at least three of his sons are thought to be dead.
Here is a look at the Gadhafi family -- a large, at times quarrelsome, clan that helped the embattled strongman hold onto power for more than four decades.

Celebrations erupt in Libya After Gadhafi's death

Even before confirmation of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's death came from the nation's interim government Thursday, Libyans erupted in jubilation after early reports said he had been captured or killed.
A "cacophony of celebration" could be heard in Tripoli as ships and cars blasted their horns and shots were fired into the air, said CNN's Dan Rivers.


"It is very, very loud -- a lot of excitement," Rivers said.
"It's a great moment," said Mahmoud Shammam, information minister for Libya's National Transitional Council. "I've been waiting for this moment for decades, and I'm thanking God that I'm alive to see this moment."
The sound of cheering could be heard, along with a call to prayer, as people embraced and jumped up and down joyfully and crowds ran through the streets alongside cars.


While reports of Gadhafi's fate were unconfirmed earlier Thursday, "what isn't speculation is what's going on down here," Rivers said.
Outside a hotel, staff including chefs wearing their white hats gathered, dancing and waving Libyan flags.
"They're breathing a huge sigh of relief here," Rivers said. Many Libyans were concerned that a free Gadhafi might play a role in destabilizing Libya in the future, he said.
In Sirte -- Gadhafi's hometown -- video showed people gathering in celebration, some riding on the tops of cars waving Libyan flags and shooting guns in the air as horns honked.


One man, dressed in fatigues and carrying a weapon, ran up and kissed a television camera. Others chanted, danced and waved their hands in the air, some flashing the "peace" sign.
Libyan television networks displayed a cell phone photo released by Agence France-Presse showing a bloodied man identified as Gadhafi.
On Wednesday, Libyan fighters said they had entered the last holdout of Gadhafi loyalists in Sirte. The NTC said it would officially declare Libya liberated when Sirte fell.


Many had suspected Gadhafi was hiding in Sirte after revolutionary forces took Tripoli in August. He was wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity and had not been seen in public in months.
Social media sites such as Twitter showed users expressing support for the Libyans and noting that Gadhafi's death would be another victory in a year that has seen the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the death of Osama bin Laden. Those from countries that participated in the so-called Arab Spring issued messages of support for Libyans.

Latest News in Libya

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has been killed. Here are the latest developments:
-- U.S. Defense Department costs for operations in Libya stand at about $1.1 billion as of September 30, according to Pentagon spokesman George Little. That includes daily military operations, munitions, the drawdown of supplies and humanitarian assistance.
-- Opposition activists from Syria and Yemen said dictators should pay heed to the fate of Gadhafi.
-- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "This day marks an historic transition for Libya," after hearing of Moammar Gadhafi's death.
-- U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said Gadhafi's death marks the end of his reign of terror and the promise of a new Libya.
Earlier developments:


On the ground:

-- Moammar Gadhafi's son Mutassim has been killed, according to Anees al-Sharif, spokesman for AbdelHakim Belhajj of the Tripoli military council.
-- Al-Sharif also said Gadhafi's chief of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, has been killed.
-- Libyans erupted in jubilation with the first reports that Gadhafi may have been killed. A "cacophony of celebration" could be heard in Tripoli as ships and cars blasted their horns and shots were fired into the air.
-- Revolutionary fighters attacked the house where Gadhafi was hiding, National Transitional Council Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam told CNN. Gadhafi was shot while trying to flee, he said.
-- A cell phone photograph distributed by the news agency Agence France-Presse appeared to show the arrest of a bloodied Gadhafi. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the image.
-- A video surfaced that apparently shows Gadhafi's body.


International:

-- NATO is going to convene soon for a meeting to discuss ending its operation in Libya, a source told CNN's Barbara Starr on Thursday.
-- NATO said its aircraft struck two pro-Gadhafi military vehicles in the vicinity of Sirte on Thursday. "These armed vehicles were conducting military operations and presented a clear threat to civilians," Col. Roland Lavoie said.

Shalit is back home, After 5 years in captivity

Freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit arrived safe and sound in his northern Israeli hometown, feeling "good" in his first day of freedom after more than five years in Hamas captivity, but suffering small injuries from shrapnel wounds.
In what was an arduous and emotional day for Israelis and Palestinians, Shalit won his release Tuesday morning in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, whose walk to freedom drew cheers from thousands in Gaza and the West Bank.
"We can say that we have experienced the rebirth of a son," his father, Noam Shalit, told reporters.


"Gilad has come home after an exhausting and long struggle. As I have said quite often, we were told that we were tilting at windmills. It was exhausting, but ultimately we managed to bring him home. As you have seen today he came home and walked up the steps that he left, and has come home, went through the door that he left so many days ago, 1,942 days ago."
The first of several hundred released Palestinian prisoners made journeys of their own.
According to Syria's official SANA news agency, 16 arrived Wednesday in Damascus. Fifteen arrived in Doha, reported the official (QNA) Qatar News Agency.

Egypt's state-run al-Ahram newspaper said 46 Palestinians left Cairo and headed to Qatar, Turkey and Syria. Turkey's semi-official Anatolian agency said 10 are coming to that country.
According to Hams' al-Aqsa TV, Ahlam al-Tamimi arrived in Amman, Jordan, from Cairo early Wednesday. She was a university student who served life terms for being an accomplice in a 2001 suicide bombing at a Jerusalem restaurant that killed at least 15 people.
Shalit came via Egypt because it acted as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, which do not have relations. He was given medical checks that showed him to be in good health and cleared him to return home. He was flown to Tel Nof air base, where he was reunited with his family and saluted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on arrival there.


A helicopter flew him and his family home from the air base to the northern Galilee village of Mitzpe Hila. He made his way by vehicle from the helipad to the village and was whisked into his home.
Greeted along the road by hundreds of chanting and flag-waving supporters, people in the Galilee community laid out white roses and hung banners to welcome Shalit back, erupting in joy at the return of the young man who became an international cause célèbre.
Noam Shalit grabbed him in a bear hug, held him tight and kissed him as they were reunited at the air base. The father told Israeli television earlier it was the happiest day of his life.
"He basically came out of a dark hole, in a dark basement, and came out of that to a great crowd. I'm sure that this was an amazing experience for him when he arrived here at our village to see all of this going on. "


Noam Shalit said his son "feels good" and is "very happy to be home."
"But he is suffering from a number of small injuries that have remained with him because he wasn't treated properly. Shrapnel wounds, and also the results of a lack of sunlight. Now he has had extensive medical tests and he will have appropriate treatment from the Israeli medical forces," he said.


Noam Shalit said his son couldn't communicate with people in his own language in captivity. "The only thing he was able to do is communicate with his abductors and his guards."
"Of course it's difficult for him to just expose himself to so many people because he's been in isolation, really in isolation, for so many days and so many years."
He told reporters that conditions in captivity at the beginning of his son's ordeal were difficult but they eventually improved. He said Gilad was able to listen to the radio and was able to watch some television, particularly the Arab TV stations.
The father thanked all of the people who showed up to welcome his son "so warmly, so supportively with such solidarity and such warmth" and addressed the concerns of the survivors of people whose relatives were slain by some of the Palestinian inmates who were freed.
"We definitely identified with them and totally understand their anguish. And we understand the price that they are paying for Gilad's freedom."



Gilad Shalit: Israeli captive freed at last
Shalit learned about a week ago that he was going to be released, though he "felt it for the last month," he told Egyptian television after his release.
"I missed my family. I missed going out and meeting people," he said in the emotional interview, where he appeared pale, tired, tense, and sometimes out of breath, although he was seated in a chair.
"I hope this deal will move the peace process forward," he told Shahira Amin of Egyptian TV, saying he would be glad if the remaining Palestinian prisoners are released "as long as they do not go back to fighting Israel."


Why Israelis believe one soldier is worth 1,000 Palestinian prisoners
The interview came shortly after Egyptian television showed a short clip of Shalit walking unaided with an escort of about a half-dozen people. He looked thin and dazed, wearing a dark baseball cap and collared shirt.


Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the Israel Defense Forces chief of general staff said in a statement to Shalit that the "commanders and soldiers of the IDF respect you and are proud of your tenacity and resilience throughout these years. We will continue to support you for as long as you need.
"On behalf of your fellow soldiers, who carry on their shoulders your generation's guardianship of the country, whether in the land, sea or air, in their offices or in the field, throughout the country, whether in their tanks, or artillery batteries, in their planes or in their ships -- in the name of the whole of the IDF, I congratulate you and your family upon your return to us."


Israel freed 477 Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails shortly before Shalit was released, the first batch of Palestinians being swapped for Shalit's freedom.
Enormous crowds of Palestinians estimated in the tens of thousands flooded the streets of Gaza, waving flags and banners, to welcome the inmates home. Greeted by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, prisoners went on a stage before a jubilant throng. Most of the crowd waved Hamas banners but some hoisted the flag of Fatah.


In celebration of the freed detainees, Palestinian leaders have declared Wednesday a holiday for all government institutions, including schools, Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television reported.
Haniya wept tears of joy as he hugged and kissed those who crossed into Gaza.
Speaking for Palestinians everywhere, Haniya said, "this is the day of our God. It's our God that's given us this victory. He has made us this miracle and this pride on this proud people. It's God who has preserved our resistance fighters. It's God who set in his book that our our soldiers are the victorious."


Haniya said Shalit was tightly guarded throughout the duration, adding that "for the purpose of liberating these heroes, we put our divisions behind our backs."
"We have entered into a unity for the sake of these heroes from different factions," he said, noting that people in non-Hamas factions, like Fatah and Islamic Jihad, also were freed.
"Some people described what Hamas did as an adventure that does not merit what Gaza went through. But I tell you now these heroes deserve any adventure, risk-taking to bring them back."
Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal, speaking in Cairo, said the "victory is a result of the negotiation that was led by Hamas."
"The ability to hide Gilad Shalit in Gaza for five years is something to be proud of. The Palestinian security mind has defeated the Israeli security mind, which is supported by all the rest of the world," Meshaal said.


Meshaal said more prisoners could have been "liberated" with more time.
"We would have kept on negotiating. But we have realized this is the ceiling we can get to."
After five very difficult years, Ahmed Qawasmi, 80, was awaiting the release of his son Amer, who was arrested when he was 17 and has been in jail 24 years.
"I am very, very happy for the release of my son Amer," he said, adding: "The celebrations and happiness won't be complete until all Palestinian prisoners are free from Israeli prisons."
Nabil Hamouz, 21, told CNN he was waiting for the release of his mother Hanan, 42, who has served one year of a 2 1/2-year sentence for trying to stab an Israeli soldier.


"I am very happy and can't wait to hug my mother again," he said, weeping.
Freed prisoners praised Egypt's role as a mediator in interviews on Palestinian television after they were released.
Some are being sent to the West Bank and others to Gaza, while just under half are being sent abroad. A handful are going to homes in Jerusalem, elsewhere in Israel or to Jordan.
Opinion: With Gilad Shalit's return, a sign of hope
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas greeted some of them with hugs at his compound in the West Bank.

Abbas told cheering crowds they had "fought and sacrificed, and you will see the results of your struggle in an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
And he said more prisoners will be released.
"I am not revealing a secret here. I do not reveal a secret. If I say that there is an agreement between us and the Israeli government to release more prisoners, the same number of prisoners released on this deal, once this current deal is over and therefore, we demand from them to honor their pledge if making pledges is a responsible act on their end," Abbas said.
Hamas official Hassan Youssef welcomed the release of some prisoners, but said it was not enough.


"We are all shedding two tears: One tear for the release of all of our fighters, and a tear of pain for all of our brothers still in prison," he said.
Netanyahu used strikingly similar language to describe his nation's emotions at the release of Shalit in exchange for convicted attackers of Israelis.
"Today we are all united in joy and in pain. ... This is also a hard day; even if the price had been smaller, it would still have been heavy," he said.

Gadhafi was killed

Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed October 20 in his home town of Sirte, as forces from the National Transitional Council overran and liberated the city.
Three of Gadhafi's children have fled the country and at least three of his sons are thought to be dead.
Here is a look at the Gadhafi family -- a large, at times quarrelsome, clan that helped the embattled strongman hold onto power for more than four decades.


MOAMMAR GADHAFI
Became leader of Libya in 1969. Prior to his death on October 20, Gadhafi was last reported seen June 12, two weeks before the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
An audio message purporting to be from him aired August 24, days after rebels overran the capital Tripoli.
Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam told Syria's Rai TV August 31 that his father was "fine. We are fighting and we are drinking tea and drinking coffee and sitting with our families and fighting."
The Algerian government announced earlier that week that Moammar Gadhafi's wife, Safia, and three of his grown children -- daughter Aisha and two of his sons, Hannibal and Mohamed -- had arrived in the neighboring North African country.


But on September 1, Algeria's foreign minister denied that the leader had come with them.
"Of course not," Mourad Medelci told French radio network Europe 1 when asked whether Gadhafi was in Algeria.
"The hypothesis that Mr. Gadhafi could come knocking on our door was never considered."
Gadhafi had said repeatedly he had no intention of ever leaving Libya.


SAIF AL-ISLAM

The most noted power player is Saif al-Islam. Once seen as a possible successor to his father and an advocate of reform, he became a vocal defender of his father's brutal regime. Saif is wanted by the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for him in June on charges of crimes against humanity. Although rebels claimed his capture when they rolled into Tripoli, Saif al-Islam later showed up at the Rixos Hotel in a convoy of armored Land Cruisers.
Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown, but at the end of August he vowed "Victory or martyrdom!" in a call to Syria's Rai TV.
Saif al-Islam, saying he was speaking from a suburb of Tripoli, urged Libyans to rise up against the rebels: "Wherever you see the enemy, attack them. They are weak, they have suffered lots of losses and they are now licking their wounds."


He is the second-oldest son, the oldest of Gadhafi's second wife Safia. He was educated at the London School of Economics. He speaks fluent English, is a fastidious dresser and he paints. An exhibition of his work was displayed in Moscow.


SAADI

Saadi offered to negotiate an end to the war with the rebels after his father's troops lost control of Tripoli, but later seemed to change his mind. In intermittent contact with CNN's Nic Robertson earlier, he originally appeared willing to promise his father and older brother would stay out of the way of a peace deal. "If (the rebels) agree to cooperate to save the country together (without my father and Saif) then it will be easy and fast. I promise!" Saadi Gadhafi said in an e-mail to Robertson. He said the opposition cannot "build a new country without having us in the table."
But he later said he would not surrender to the rebels. They, in turn, offered him safe passage to Tripoli and proper treatment, but said he would be put on trial rather than given a chance to negotiate.
A businessman, Saadi ran the Libyan Football Federation before the unrest began. He played soccer for Perugia in Italy for one season. Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables posted on WikiLeaks claim that he had "scuffles" with police in Europe.


AISHA
Moammar Gadhafi's only daughter, a former U.N. goodwill ambassador who has kept a low profile during Libya's violent uprising, crossed into Algeria with her mother and brothers Hannibal and Mohamed August 29. She gave birth to a daughter at the border, sources close to her family told CNN.
Known in the Arab media as the "Claudia Schiffer" of the region, the striking blonde beauty was once considered her embattled father's best asset. But, unlike her brothers, Aisha Gadhafi has largely kept out of the public eye as rebels continue to quash the last pockets of resistance from her father's 42-year-old regime.

Many observers expected her to show more support for her father's increasingly beleaguered regime, especially when a NATO airstrike in April killed her brother, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, and her own daughter -- one of several Gadhafi grandchildren who died in the attack.
In February, as Moammar Gadhafi called on the military to crack down on anti-government protesters early in the Libyan conflict, the United Nations terminated his daughter's stint as a goodwill ambassador in Libya for the U.N. Development Program.


A lawyer by profession, she is also known to toe a very tough political line. She has been a longtime, loud supporter of anti-government groups -- except at home -- including the IRA and the insurgents in Iraq. She was famously part of Saddam Hussein's defense team when he was tried. He ultimately was convicted and hanged. When London's Telegraph newspaper asked her how she felt about Iraqis who say he slaughtered thousands of their countrymen, she replied, "You are bound to meet people who may be against your policies."


HANNIBAL
Hannibal fled into Algeria with his mother, sister Aisha and brother Mohamed August 29. Rebels who picked through Hannibal Gadhafi's seaside villa a day earlier introduced CNN's Dan Rivers to his family's badly burned former nanny, who said she had been doused with boiling water by Hannibal Gadhafi's wife Aline when she refused to beat one of their crying toddlers. The nanny, Shweyga Mullah, is covered with scars from the abuse, which was corroborated by another member of the household staff.

Hannibal has reportedly paid millions of dollars for private parties featuring big-name entertainers including Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Usher. Several of the artists now say they have given the money back.
It's not just Hannibal's parties that make news. He has been implicated in a string of violent incidents in Europe. He was accused of beating his staff, although the charges were later dropped. He was accused of beating his wife, model Aline Skaf, in a London hotel. She later said her broken nose was the result of an accident.
In a spectacular episode, Hannibal was stopped after driving his Ferrari 90 mph the wrong way on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. He invoked diplomatic immunity.


MOHAMED
Mohamed is the son of Moammar Gadhafi and his first wife, Fatiha. Mohamed was one of three Gadhafi sons who had been reported captured as the rebels overran Tripoli last week, but the rebels said he had escaped the following day. He was among the family who crossed into Algeria at the end of August.
Before the unrest, he was the head of Libya's Olympic committee and chairman of the company that operated cell phone and satellite services in Libya.


MUTASSIM
Mutassim was killed in Sirte October 20, the same day his father was killed, according to Anees al-Sharif, spokesman for AbdelHakim Belhajj of the Tripoli military council.
He once allegedly helped plot a coup against his father and had to flee the country when it failed. He was eventually forgiven and became his father's national security adviser. Mutassim was involved in official talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 about improving U.S.-Libyan relations.


KHAMIS

Khamis was said to command a special forces unit known as the 32nd brigade, or the Khamis brigade, which protected the Gadhafi family. His troops were involved in much of the heavy fighting throughout Libya.
Senior rebel commander Mahdi al-Harati told CNN Khamis was killed August 28 in a battle with rebel forces between the villages of Tarunah and Bani Walid -- near Misrata -- in northwest Libya. Khamis died from his wounds at a hospital, and was buried in the area by rebel forces, al-Harati said. CNN has not independently confirmed his death.


SAIF AL-ARAB
Saif al-Arab was killed in an April 30 NATO airstrike. Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were at their son's house when it was targeted. Very little is known about him.


MILAD
Milad is a nephew whom Moammar Gadhafi adopted. He is said to have saved Gadhafi's life in the U.S. bombing of his compound in 1986. Milad's whereabouts are unknown.