Report: Bodies of 267 Qaddafi Supporters Found in His Libyan Hometown

[jakeXT]

SIRTE, Libya -- The bodies of 267 people, many of them believed to have been executed, were found in Sirte, the hometown of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Most of those found dead were supporters of Qaddafi, a Red Cross source told online Libyan newspaper Qurynanew.

The source said that most of the bodies were executed and buried in mass graves in Sirte and the surrounding area.

Officials from Benghazi and Sirte numbered and photographed the bodies before burying them and will store the information in an archive to show the victims' families, the report said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/26/report-bodies-267-qaddafi-supporters-found-in-his-libyan-hometown/#ixzz1byGRlVGX

[pinboy3niner]

1. The ICRC said it cannot confirm this

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it could not confirm a report, sourced to one of its officials, that 267 bodies, mostly Gaddafi loyalists, have been found in Sirte.

The online Libyan newspaper Qurynaew said a Red Cross official had told it that most of those found had been executed (see 1.16pm)

A spokesman for the ICRC said it was doubtful that a Red Cross official would have provided such a briefing.

Steven Anderson, a Geneva-based spokesman, said:

We have not given out such a precise number. We don't deny the figure, and it doesn't seem wrong or far fetched. We just can't confirm it. And we can't comment on the circumstances of their deaths.

We have been working in Sirte and we have seen a number of dead bodies, but estimates of the numbers are difficult to provide. I can't confirm these figure, but there have been a significant number of dead bodies in Sirte.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/26/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-25