Libya's new leaders to declare liberation

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libya's new leaders will declare liberation Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

But the victory has been clouded by questions over how Gadhafi was killed after images emerged showing he was found alive and taunted and beaten by his captors.

The long-awaited declaration of liberation will come more than two months after revolutionary forces swept into Tripoli and seized control of most of the oil-rich North African nation. It was stalled by fierce resistance by Gadhafi loyalists in his hometown of Sirte, Bani Walid and pockets in the south.

Sirte was the last to fall, but Gadhafi's son and onetime heir apparent and many of his fighters have apparently escaped, raising fears they could continue to stir up trouble.

With Gadhafi gone, however, the governing National Transitional Council was moving forward with efforts to transform a country that was ruled by one man for more than four decades into a democracy.

Initially, council officials said the declaration of liberation would be made Saturday in the eastern city of Benghazi, the revolution's birthplace. But spokesman Abdel-Rahman Busin said preparations were under way for a ceremony today instead. He didn't explain the delay.

The transitional leadership has said it would declare a new interim government within a month of liberation and hold elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months, then organize a parliamentary and presidential vote within a year after that.

Saturday, acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, who has said he plans to resign after liberation, said the interim government "should last until the first presidential elections."

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian shores of the Dead Sea, Jibril said he was "relieved" after Gadhafi's ouster, describing it as a "great moment in my life."

Gadhafi's blood-streaked body has been put on display in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata as Libyan authorities argued about where to bury the remains.

Abdel-Basit al-Mzirig, the deputy justice minister, said Gadhafi will be buried according to Islamic tradition, but that his burial place will be kept secret. Burial had been planned for Friday.

Fathi Bashagha, a spokesman for the Misrata military council, said at least four groups of doctors have examined the body and determined the cause of death was a bullet to the head and stomach.