Libyan Militia Leader Says Ready to Reveal Location of Gaddafi’s Grave

 Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi poses after an interview with TRT Turkish television reporter Mehmet Akif Ersoy at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Huseyin Dogan
Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi poses after an interview with TRT Turkish television reporter Mehmet Akif Ersoy at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Huseyin Dogan
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Libyan Militia Leader Says Ready to Reveal Location of Gaddafi’s Grave

 Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi poses after an interview with TRT Turkish television reporter Mehmet Akif Ersoy at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Huseyin Dogan
Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi poses after an interview with TRT Turkish television reporter Mehmet Akif Ersoy at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Huseyin Dogan

A militia leader in the city of Misurata raised the issue of the location of the grave of the late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who was buried there nearly 10 years ago after his arrest and killing.

Salah Badi, the commander of the so-called ‘Al-Samoud Brigade’, one of the participants in the burial of Gaddafi and his son Mutassim, said that he was ready to reveal the place where Gaddafi’s body was buried after his death on Oct. 20, 2011, after a bloody battle in the city of Sirte.

UN-sanctioned Salah Badi, whose forces played a key role in preventing the National Army from entering Tripoli two years ago, was speaking in an interview via Clubhouse about the Feb. 18 revolution, which broke out in 2011, and the following events that led to the overthrow of the regime.

Despite the passing of 10 years since the killing of Gaddafi, some Libyan cities, especially in the south, still express their grief at his loss. His supporters demand to know the location of the grave in which he was buried along with his son, Al-Mutasim Billah, according to a legal case which was previously brought by Libyan lawyer Adnan Argaa Al-Urfi before the Benghazi Court of First Instance.

Supporters of the former regime seemed to disregard Badi’s statements, but one of the Gadhadhfa tribe sheikhs demanded, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, that he should be tried internationally for his crimes, adding that Gaddafi’s burial place must be revealed.

Gaddafi and his son were killed in the city of Sirte. However, people from Misurata took their bodies to their city, before burying them in an unknown location. Since then, supporters of the former regime have launched lawsuits to reveal the burial place, without reaching any concrete response to their quest.



AFP Appeals for Evacuation of Freelance Staff from Gaza

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
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AFP Appeals for Evacuation of Freelance Staff from Gaza

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo

Agence France-Presse called on Israel on Tuesday to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the Gaza Strip, citing worsening living conditions and escalating risks to their safety.

In a statement, the French news agency said its freelancers faced an "appalling situation" in Gaza. A 21-month war with Israel has devastated the territory, since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023.

"For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions," AFP said, adding that the situation had become untenable despite the "exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience" of its local team.

The management statement came after AFP's journalists' association issued its own statement saying colleagues in Gaza risked dying of hunger.

AFP said it had succeeded in evacuating eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024, after months of effort. It is now seeking to secure safe passage for its freelance Palestinian reporters, despite "the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory under strict blockade".

According to Reuters, Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza since October 7, 2023. AFP said the work of its Palestinian freelancers remained crucial to informing the world, but said they now had to leave because of the risk to their lives.

Reuters also works with freelance journalists in Gaza.

"Reuters is deeply concerned about the health and safety of its freelancers in Gaza, with whom we are in daily contact. The extreme difficulty sourcing food is leading to their and all Gaza residents experiencing greater levels of hunger and illness," a Reuters spokesperson said. "We are providing our contributors with additional financial support to help them and, should they wish to leave the territory, we will provide any assistance possible to help them get out."