Wounded, weakened and covered in blood and dirt, the bedraggled fallen dictator was hauled from a truck to meet his unceremonious end. In front of a baying mob and amid gun-waving chaotic scenes, Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader, begged the revolutionary soldiers for his life. Becoming increasingly desperate, he asked one rebel fighter: 'What did I ever do to you?'
But his pleas fell on deaf ears. The deposed despot was thrown onto another truck and taken away - to be mercilessly shot to death.
His spilt blood heralded the end of a terrible 42-year epoch in Libyan history. These gruesome pictures are taken from a video that has emerged of the tyrant's final moments after he was captured earlier today. After weeks of speculation as to his whereabouts, Gaddafi was finally tracked down and killed in Sirte, his final stronghold and the town of his birth. Like Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi's last hiding place was no more than a hole in the ground, a storm drain near to where his last few loyalists had staged their last stand
As news of his death swept through the country and across the world, bloody images of the 69-year-old tyrant slumped across the legs of a revolutionary fighter emerged. Libya's prime minister Mahmoud Jibril this afternoon confirmed the former dictator was dead.
Gaddafi's eldest son Saif was yesterday said to have been shot in the leg during a firefight and taken to hospital - with some, as yet unconfirmed, reports suggesting he has since died. His other son Mutassim has been confirmed to have died in today's battle.
'We have been waiting for this moment for a long time,' said Jibril. 'Muammar Gaddafi has been killed'. The news was also welcomed by Prime Minister David Cameron who said he was 'proud' of the role Britain had played in protecting Libyan civilians. And U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Gaddafi's death as a 'momentous day' in the history of Libya but warned of 'difficult days ahead' on the road to full democracy in the country. He urged the Libyan people to respect the human rights of those they had detained and said the Nato mission in Libya would soon come to an end. He said: 'This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya. 'For four decades the Gaddafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist. Basic human rights were denied, innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed and Libya's wealth was squandered, enormous potential of Libyan people was held back and terror was used as a political weapon.
'Today we can definitively say that the Gaddafi regime has come to an end. This is a momentous day in the history of Libya.
'The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted and with this enormous promise the Libyan people now have a great responsibility to build an inclusive and tolerant and democratic Libya that stands as the ultimate rebuke to Gaddafi's dictatorship.
'We call on our Libya friends to continue to work with the international community to secure dangerous materials and to respect the human rights of all Libyans, including those who have been detained. 'We are under no illusions. Libya will travel a long and winding road to full democracy. There will be difficult days ahead. But the United States, together with the international community, is committed to the Libyan people.' Gaddafi is the first leader to be killed in the Arab Spring wave of popular uprisings that swept the Middle East. It is believed he will be given a secret burial.
The revolutionary offensive began around 8am local time and progressed quickly into the town centre.
Gaddafi had been barricaded in with his heavily armed loyalists in the last few buildings they held west of the central Green Square.
Nato airstrikes and revolutionary ground forces concentrated on a compound in that area of the town.
National Transitional Council (NTC) soldiers said that a convoy of at least five vehicles tried to leave the town in the early morning, but it came under sustained fire - first from a Hellfire missile and then from French fighters jets which were part of the Nato force.
The vehicles were forced to return to the loyalist-controlled area as battle continued. Gaddaffi, already injured, was found a short time later in a large storm-water drain. Fighter Mohammed Al Bibi told reporters that the toppled tyrant had pleaded 'Don't shoot, don't shoot' as he attempted to surrender. He had been wounded in the legs. NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta said: 'He [Gaddafi] was also hit in his head. There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.'
Mobile phone footage, released shortly after the news of his capture broke, showed a bloodied Gaddafi being manhandled.
Al Jazeera also showed footage of what appeared to be Gaddafi's shirtless and lifeless body being dragged along the ground.
The body was then taken to the nearby city of Misrata, which Gaddafi's forces were besieged for months in one of the bloodiest fronts of the civil war. Al-Arabiya TV showed footage of Gaddafi's bloodied body carried on the top of a vehicle surrounded by a large crowd chanting: 'The blood of the martyrs will not go in vain.' Rebels said he had been armed with a golden handgun when he was found and was wearing a khaki uniform. Later images showed young revolutionary soldiers cheering and holding a golden handgun.
Other soldiers say they slapped the dead Gaddafi's face with a shoe to express their disgust and lack of respect.
The reports of Gaddafi's capture came on the same day that revolutionary forces said that they had taken control of Sirte - the leader's home town.
