Gaddafi's body to be handed to his relatives, says Libya's interim government

Tripoli: Libya's interim government will hand the body of slain despot Moammar Gaddafi to his relatives after consulting with them on the location of his burial, a senior government advisor said on Sunday.

"The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment," Ahmed Jibril told reporters.

"The NTC (National Transitional Council) are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gaddafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC," he added.

Jibril, who is an advisor to the new regime's interim premier Mahmud Jibril, declined to say when the transfer would take place.

Since he was killed on Thursday, as he tried to flee his hometown of Sirte, Gaddafi's body has been held in a refrigerated chamber outside Misrata, drawing large crowds, wanting to view the remains of the despot who ruled Libya with an iron fist for decades.

The NTC has been reticent about plans for his burial, not wishing to see the grave become a rallying point for residual loyalists. NTC leaders and military officials have indicated that he would be buried in a secret location.

Disquiet has grown internationally over how Gaddafi met his end on Thursday after NTC fighters hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following NATO air strikes on the convoy in which he had been trying to flee his falling hometown.