Gaddafi's body is buried at dawn

After displaying his body for public view, Colonel Gaddafi was buried at dawn at an unknown location

Last night the bodies of Colonel Gaddafi and his son Mutassim were removed from their display in a cold store in Misurata in preparation for a burial in the early hours of this morning.

The ousted dictator and his son are thought to have been buried at dawn, with a few relatives and officials in attendance. They will be placed in unmarked desert graves to avoid vandalism or the resting place becoming a shrine for Gaddafi loyalists.

Yesterday, the transitional government bowed to international pressure to investigate the circumstances of Gaddafi's death after he was cornered in a drain by rebel fighters while trying to flee his besieged home town of Sirte.

'In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi's death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured,' says the chairman of the NTCMustafa Abdul Jalil.

Mr Jalil also attempted to reassure the NTC's Western support that the country was a moderate Muslim nation over its plans to introduce Islamic law. His need to reassure hints at the difficulty in balancing the demands of influential factions after the death of Gaddafi.

'I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are Muslims, but moderate Muslims,' he says.

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