Photo Gallery Gadhafi Falls in Sirte

In the end, rebel fighters dragged Moammar Gadhafi out of a concrete drainage pipe -- the final hiding place of the deposed leader. Within an hour, he was dead. While the exact circumstances of his death are anything but clear, one thing is certain: the ex-dictator was shown no mercy.
1 / 17

This still image of video footage from Libyan TV shows a bloodied Gadhafi being pulled from a truck by rebel fighters in Sirte on Oct. 20.

Foto: REUTERS/ Libyan TV
2 / 17

Rebel fighters peer into the drainage pipe where Gadhafi allegedly made a last-ditch effort to evade capture. The former dictator had reportedly been hiding in his hometown, Sirte, one of the last major bastions of resistance.

Foto: David Sperry/ AP
3 / 17

Blue graffiti scrawled near the drainage pipe where the deposed leader was allegedly captured reads, "This is the place of Gadhafi, the rat -- God is great." In the foreground lies a dead Gadhafi loyalist.

Foto: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/ AFP
4 / 17

Rebel fighters show off the gold-plated pistol Gadhafi was allegedly carrying when captured. According to one of the fighters who found the deposed dictator, Gadhafi allegedly emerged from his hiding place with his hands up, saying, "What do you want? Don't kill me, my sons."

Foto: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/ AFP
5 / 17

For weeks, Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte had been the site of intense street battles. One of the last strongholds of Gadhafi loyalists, the city eventually fell to revolutionary fighters on Oct. 20, the same day of Gadhafi's capture.

Foto: AFP
6 / 17

A sniper with Libya's National Transitional Council takes aim from inside a building in Sirte on Oct. 18.

Foto: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/ AFP
7 / 17

A revolutionary fighter fires at Gadhafi loyalists from an apartment window in Sirte. The city was among the final pockets of resistance to fall in the battle for Libya.

Foto: Manu Brabo/ AP
8 / 17

An NTC fighter carries a wounded comrade through the streets of downtown Sirte. Forces with Libya's National Transitional Council fought building by building, street by street, eventually breaking through the resistance of Gadhafi loyalists.

Foto: Manu Brabo/ AP
9 / 17

Jubilant Libyans celebrated after hearing the news that Moammar Gadhafi had been captured and killed.

Foto: ISMAIL ZITOUNI/ REUTERS
10 / 17

Triumphant fighters with Libya's National Transitional Council ride a tank through Sirte on Oct. 20, their weapons raised in celebration.

Foto: REUTERS
11 / 17

By Thursday morning, Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte had fallen to fighters of the new regime.

Foto: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/ AFP
12 / 17

Euphoric rebel fighters embrace as they celebrate the fall of Sirte on Oct. 20. Gadhafi's capture marked the end of a hard-won battle for control of the country.

Foto: ESAM OMRAN AL-FETORI/ REUTERS
13 / 17

Some rebel fighters fired their guns into the air in celebration, others burned green flags -- a symbol of the deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Foto: Manu Brabo/ AP
14 / 17

A fighter for Libya's interim government gestures to the camera as the truck he is riding in drags a poster of the former dictator Gadhafi.

Foto: ESAM OMRAN AL-FETORI/ REUTERS
15 / 17

Many buildings in Sirte were destroyed during the skirmishes. For nearly two months, the sounds of gunfire and rocket and mortar explosions were commonplace in Gadhafi's hometown.

Foto: THAIER AL-SUDANI/ REUTERS
16 / 17

A rebel fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade during a street battle in Sirte on Oct. 18, two days before forces with Libya's National Transitional Council would wrestle control of the city from Gadhafi loyalists.

Foto: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/ AFP
17 / 17

Two rebel fighters fire their machine guns from a position in downtown Sirte on Oct. 19. By eradicating the last pockets of pro-Gadhafi resistance in the city, rebel fighters cleared the way for Libya's interim government to make good on its promise of introducing a democratic system of governance, something it had said it would do once the city had fallen.

Foto: Manu Brabo/ AP