Blast in Sirte kills 100

PanARMENIAN.Net - A fuel tank exploded in Sirte killing more than 100 people less than a week after Col Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed there.

“There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded" in Monday night's blast, National Transitional Council commander Leith Mohammed said.

He said the scene was "a heart wrenching spectacle with dozens of charred bodies." The accidental explosion happened as a crowd of people waited near the fuel tank to fill up their cars.

"We are still unable to put out the fire," said Mohammed, adding that it had been caused by a spark from a nearby electricity generator.

Some of the victims had returned to the town, the last bastion of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists, which fell on Thursday, to inspect the damage to their properties, the NTC commander added.

No building was spared in the weeks of fierce combat backed by daily NATO air strikes that reduced the Mediterranean city to rubble, a ghost town filled with the stench of death, where bodies still littered the streets on Monday.

Some of Sirte's residents, who numbered 120,000 before the conflict, have returned since Thursday to salvage the remains of their personal belongings. But few are expected to stay.

Human Rights Watch has urged Libya's interim government to investigate the killing of 53 people whose decaying bodies were found in Sirte, charging that some of the Kadhafi loyalists appeared to have been executed.

On Tuesday, the rights group raised concerns about the vast stockpiles of unguarded weapons in the area around the city, and called on the NTC to secure these sites to prevent further looting. Officials said earlier that the ousted Libyan leader was buried at dawn in a secret location, ending a wrangle over his rotting corpse that led many to fear for the country's governability. His son Mutassim was buried in the same ceremony. A few relatives and officials were in attendance, according to a Misurata military council official.

Yesterday, the government bowed to international pressure and announced a commission to determine how Gaddafi died after he was cornered in a drain while trying to flee Sirte, his besieged home town.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the NTC, and other officials have said Gaddafi was killed in crossfire. Mr Jalil said: "In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi's death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured."

Mr Jalil also yesterday attempted to reassure the NTC's Western backers that the country would be a "moderate" Muslim nation, amid concern over its plans to introduce Islamic law. He appeared to soften his position less than 24 hours after using the liberation ceremony to declare that sharia would be the basis of all legislation.

His attempt at conciliation hinted at the difficulty the NTC is having in balancing the demands of secularists and influential Islamist factions who played a strong role in the uprising.

France and the EU warned the NTC to respect human rights after Mr Jalil's speech on Sunday in which he singled out a ban on polygamy as legislation which would have to be swept aside. However, Mr Jalil said on Monday: "I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are Muslims, but moderate Muslims."

Meanwhile on Tuesday in Sirte, a fuel tank explosion killed more than 100 people less than a week after the despot was captured and killed.

"There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded" in Monday night's blast, National Transitional Council commander Leith Mohammed said.

He said the scene was "a heart wrenching spectacle with dozens of charred bodies," The Telegraph reported.