Gadhafi Dead: Autopsy Confirms Gunshot to Head Cause of Death

Moammar Gadhafi's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, the chief pathologist who performed the autopsy confirmed on Sunday.

Dr. Othman el-Zentani would not disclose whether the findings revealed if Gadhafi suffered the wound in crossfire or at close-range, a question that has the United Nations and human rights groups calling for an investigation into the last moments of the Libyan dictator's life, CNN reported. Zentani showed photos of the bullet exit point on the left side of Gadhafi's head.

The autopsy was performed in front of officials from the prosecutor's office at a Misrata hospital, Zentani said, adding that the report will go to the attorney general's office before being released to the public.

No foreign or independent officials were present.

Autopsies were also performed on Gadhafi's son, Mutassim, and former defense minister Abu Baker Yunis. The three bodies will likely return to a cold storage unit at a Misrata meat market for public viewing, Zentani said.

On Friday, Gadhafi's family issued a statement, calling on the United Nations and Amnesty International to push Libya's leadership to hand over the bodies of the martyrs of their tribe so they can be buried according to Islamic rites, a pro-Gadhafi TV station reported.

Gadhafi's death Thursday brought an end to an eight-month war backed by NATO, after revolutionary fighters overran his hometown of Sirte, 280 miles east of Tripoli, and found him hiding in a drainage ditch.

Leaders of Libya's interim government have said Gadhafi was killed in crossfire after fighters captured him Thursday, CNN said.

Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch's emergencies doctor, counters that claim, saying fighting had ended when Gadhafi was cornered in a drainage ditch.

When he left the area, he was very much alive, Bouckaert said. There's no reason why he should have been subjected to this kind of mob justice.