Fugitive Colonel Gaddafi was executed in cold blood in a drainage ditch desperately begging for his life.
The toppled despot is thought to have fled his car after his speeding convoy fleeing his Sirte stronghold was attacked in a NATO airstrike at 6am UK time.
Two fighter jets attacked the vehicles as they fled the Sirte assault, although neither of the planes that struck the convoy was flown by the RAF.
Another two-plane formation of British Tornado ground attack aircraft were on surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Libya at the time.
Mohammed waves Gaddafi's gun in the air (Pic Getty)
As the NATO strike on Gaddafi’s convoy hit the lead vehicles his aides started trying to exit from cars and escape on foot, realising the game was up.
Then as Gaddafi and several aides tried to run into the safety of a drainage ditch they were shot dead by rebel fighters pursuing them on foot.
Libya’s national Transitional Council vice-chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told a news conference in Benghaz: “We announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries.
“We will announce the liberation of Libya within hours, maybe sooner.”
It was initially reported that Gaddafi had been wounded and taken into custody by ambulance but witnesses said he was found cowering in a concrete pipe, pleading for his life.
Then as Gaddafi and several aides tried to run into the safety of a drainage ditch they were shot dead by rebel fighters pursuing them on foot.
Libya’s national Transitional Council vice-chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told a news conference in Benghaz: “We announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries.
“We will announce the liberation of Libya within hours, maybe sooner.”
It was initially reported that Gaddafi had been wounded and taken into custody by ambulance but witnesses said he was found cowering in a concrete pipe, pleading for his life.
Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after National Transitional Council fighters overran loyalist defences in Sirte, the toppled Libyan leader's hometown and final stronghold.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," Mahmoud Jibril, the de facto Libyan prime minister, told reporters on Thursday in Tripoli, the capital.
Asked what would be done with Gaddafi's body, he said: "It doesn't make any difference, as long as he disappears".
Crowds took to the streets of Sirte, Tripoli and Benghazi, the eastern city that spearheaded the uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule in February, to celebrate the news, with some firing guns and waving Libya's new flag.
Details of the death of the toppled leader remained unclear, as new footage emerged, showing that he was alive when he was caught.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, an NTC military chief, said Gaddafi had died of his wounds after being captured.
Earlier, Abdel Majid, another NTC official, said the toppled leader had been wounded in both legs.
Sirte falling
The news came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte after weeks of fierce fighting.
Fighters flashing V for victory took to the streets in pick-ups blaring out patriotic music.
"Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter said.
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Sirte, said Libyans there celebrating the beginning of a "new Libya".
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," Mahmoud Jibril, the de facto Libyan prime minister, told reporters on Thursday in Tripoli, the capital.
Asked what would be done with Gaddafi's body, he said: "It doesn't make any difference, as long as he disappears".
Crowds took to the streets of Sirte, Tripoli and Benghazi, the eastern city that spearheaded the uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule in February, to celebrate the news, with some firing guns and waving Libya's new flag.
Details of the death of the toppled leader remained unclear, as new footage emerged, showing that he was alive when he was caught.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, an NTC military chief, said Gaddafi had died of his wounds after being captured.
Earlier, Abdel Majid, another NTC official, said the toppled leader had been wounded in both legs.
Sirte falling
The news came shortly after the NTC captured Sirte after weeks of fierce fighting.
Fighters flashing V for victory took to the streets in pick-ups blaring out patriotic music.
"Thank God they have caught this person. In one hour, Sirte was liberated," a fighter said.
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Sirte, said Libyans there celebrating the beginning of a "new Libya".
"This is bringing a form of closure," he said. "Gaddafi stayed true to his words, that he would stay in Libya till the end.
"It was surprising to many that he did actually stay here in Sirte - it's taken such a bombardment in the last 13 days. Nothing could survive in here for very long. I think they were starved of food, starved of ammunition, and finally there was nothing to do but to run".
The reward, which was put up by a wealthy Libyan businessmen, has been approved by the National Transitional Council (NTC) — the country’s de facto government — which is desperate to capture Gaddafi and bring and end to the six-month revolution.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who heads the council, said: “The NTC supports the initiative of businessmen who are offering two million dinars (£1 million) for the capture of Muammar Gaddafi, dead or alive.”
Gaddafi claimed to have made a “tactical” withdrawal from his Bab al-Azizia compound as the rebel forces closed in. In a message to his opponents he even claimed to have taken a discreet tour of the capital without feeling in any danger.
Throughout the day fresh fighting erupted in areas where Gaddafi was rumoured to be hiding. Rebels convinced that he had taken refuge in an underground bunker near the Rixos Hotel —close to his Bab al-Azizia compound — met heavy resistance from loyalists who have vowed to fight to the death.
