Libyan rebels may have killed Qaddafi,scores of loyalists,human rights activists

CAIRO Libyan rebels appear to have "summarily executed" scores of fighters loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, and probably the dictator himself, when they overran his hometown a year ago, a human rights group said Wednesday.

The report by Human Rights Watch on alleged rebel abuses that followed the October 2011 capture of the city of Sirte in the final major battle of the eight-month civil war is one of the most detailed descriptions of what the group says were war crimes committed by the militias that toppled Qaddafi, and which still play a major role in Libyan politics today.

The 50-page report, titled "Death of a Dictator: Bloody Vengeance in Sirte," details the last hours of Qaddafi's life on Oct. 20, 2011, when he tried to flee the besieged city. The longtime leader's convoy was struck by NATO aircraft as it tried to escape and the survivors were attacked by militias from the city of Misrata, who captured and disarmed the dictator and his entourage.

Misrata was subjected to a brutal weeks-long siege by Qaddafi's forces that killed hundreds of residents, and fighters from the city became among the regime's most implacable foes. HRW says it seems the Misratans took revenge against their prisoners in Sirte.

"The evidence suggests that opposition militias summarily executed at least 66 captured members of Qaddafi's convoy in Sirte," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch.

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