Gadhafi’s Body Buried in Secret Grave, Controversy over His Death Continues (Photos)

The squabble regarding what to be done to the rotting corpse of the former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has come to an end with the dead bodies of Gadhafi and his son finally being buried in a secret desert grave at an unknown location at dawn Tuesday.

The transitional government buried the body at an undisclosed location in order to prevent the place from becoming a holy place, of sorts, for his followers, The Telegraph reported.

Gadhafi's son Mutassim is thought to have been buried in the same ceremony. A few relatives and officials were in attendance, according to a Misurata military council official.

The dead body of the former dictator was left for the third day in a cold storage, which was used to store onions in Misrata. The new rulers made a statement, by leaving Gadhafi's body to be seen and humiliated by his own people who underwent a long suffering in the 42 years of his regime.

The scene surrounding the dead body was nothing less than a carnival, as people lined up to look at the decomposing bodies of Gadhafi, his son Mutassim Gaddafi and former defense minister Abubakr Yunes. Adults and children traveled to witness the bodies. Soldiers handed out face masks to adults and children as they waited for a glimpse of the body, to help ward off the stench of death and risk of disease, Sky News reported.

Apart from the fact that there was a desire among the people to see the lifeless body of their former cruel nemesis, another reason why there was a delay in cremation was because administrative organizations were unsure over what exactly to do. Misrata was not keen to allow the bodies to be buried in their soil.

The slain leader's kinsmen wanted the body to be buried in his hometown of Sirte, as Gadhafi had requested in his will. However, the interim government was not sure of the same, since the burial place could have become a pilgrim destination of a sort for his supporters.

One of Gadhafi's sons, Saadi, was particularly upset about the way the dead bodies of his father and brother had been treated. He, in a statement, said that he was shocked and outraged by the vicious brutality shown towards his father and brother, Mutassim. Saadi fled to Niger after the fall of Tripoli in August. A few Libyans also are troubled by the fact that the former leader's body was not buried in time and according to Islamic law.

Gadhafi was captured and killed on Oct. 20 at his hometown of Sirte after a two-month hunt by the National Transitional Council (NTC). The circumstances surrounding his death, however, is still unclear with the release of a video footage showing the captive Gaddafi being beaten and mocked by fighters apparently from Misrata.

The United Nations human rights arm has joined the Gaddafi family in seeking an inquiry and NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference Monday that the NTC had formed a committee to investigate, reports TVNZ.