U.S. cannot confirm death of Gaddafi now

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told Xinhua on Thursday that Washington "can not confirm at this time" the capture or death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Nuland made the remarks through an e-mail to Xinhua. There have been reports about Gaddafi's capture or death, but so far there has been no independent confirmation of the former strongman's fate. A ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) field commander told Xinhua on Thursday that Gaddafi died of his wounds earlier in the day.The commander, Momhemed Buras Ali Al-Maknee, also told Xinhua earlier that a group of fighters from the western Libyan city of Misrata captured Gaddafi in Sirte, who had been severely injured. The pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV quoted Abdel Hakim Belhaj, NTC's military chief in Tripoli, as confirming that Gaddafi had been killed. Gaddafi's death has not yet been officially announced by the NTC. NTC chief Mustafa Abdul-Jalil is expected to address the Libyan people soon. The 69 year-old former leader, whose forces were driven out of the capital of Tripoli by the NTC on Aug. 23, and had been "leading resistance" against his foes from an undisclosed place in Libya for the past months, according to his spokesman. On June 27, the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity, and on Sept. 9, the international police agency INTERPOL issued Red Notice for the three as requested by the ICC.