Libya: The Hunt For The Golden Gun Our World

The death of Muammar Gaddafi was both an end and a beginning. This

footage broadcast for the first time shows more clearly than ever the

Colonel's final moments. Blood-stained fighters became

instant heroes, brandishing the dictator's golden pistol. Absolutely

wild celebrations here... I was there as they passed it among

themselves, a symbol of their victory and their dreams for a new

Libya. Nearly five years on, I have returned to see if I can find that

gun. That's you, and that's me. I've returned to a country still at war.

To a country where the group that calls itself Islamic State grows

stronger by the day. Basically just beyond this point here is Islamic

State controlled territory. Where the hope of the Arab Spring feels

like a distant memory. The brutal nature of the Colonel's

killing perhaps foreshadow what was to come. Today the euphoria of the

revolution's evaporated, in its place, a multitude of factions,

Islamist versus separatist, East versus West. Rival couple,

governments have left a vacuum in which Islamic State is flourishing,

kidnappings and killings are commonplace. The Golden gun was the

ultimate war trophy, the symbol of a transfer of power in the new Libya.

But today we've got a whole bunch of different groups vying for control

here. So I want to know where that pistol is now. Perhaps the fate of

the Golden gun can tell us something about what's happened to Libya. This

is Misrata, home to the fighters who caught Gaddafi. Today it's a semi-

independent citystate. The main focus now is the battle against

Islamic State. They've taken control of the neighbouring city of Sirte.

Once again, Misrata is on the front line.

Are you seeing senior figures from Iraq and Syria now coming to Sirte?

On his wall, the intelligence chief has pictures of Misrata's heroes

with Gaddafi's golden gun. This pistol has obtained almost mythical

status and no one seems to know where it is -- attained. But I've

got four leads. The man on the poster is the man whose face was

most publicly associated with Gaddafi's capture. Then in the

middle there is another man who showed me the gun right after

Gaddafi was taken. Mohammed on the right in the baseball cap, who was

hailed as the hero of the date, and Anwar, a local powerbroker who

stored the Colonel's body in a refrigerated meat locker. -- the

day. We start our search on the outskirts

of Misrata at the family home where Omran showband grew up. He became

the poster boy of the resolution because of his role in Gaddafi's

capture -- Revolution. In the video of the event, you can see Omran

quite clearly. He's the one wearing the brown leather jacket. Here he

holds out his arm. He seems to be trying to shield the kernel from the

mob. Omran became a national hero. He wanted Gaddafi captured so he

could go on trial. -- Colonel. Omran in body the hope that Libyans

could come together to heal their wounds. That the rule of law could

replace dictatorship. It was not to be. Less than a year later, Omran

was captured by remnants of the old regime. By the time his family could

negotiate his release, he'd been badly tortured and he died from his

injuries. Do you feel that the way things are now that your son's

sacrifice was worth it? Misrata's relative stability is hard

won, surrounded by Islamic State on one side, and other hostile factions

on the other. This is a city that is still on a war footing. Juma doesn't

know what happened to the Golden gun, but he does know where Nabil

is. Nabil's the one who showed me the pistol on the day Gaddafi was

captured. It turns out he has a job at a car mechanic's workshop just

down the road. This is Nabil, this is Nabil. Nabil's colleagues tell me

he's joined a militia that is fighting against Islamic State. We

learn that he is in fact on his way back from the front line at this

moment and we had off to meet him. This is as far as we can safely go

without an armed escort. Nabil, hello, Gabriel Gate house. That's

you, and that's me. For Nabil and his comrades, the fighting didn't

end with the capture of Colonel Gaddafi. Down this road Islam it is

he is expanding its reach. The commander tells me God willing they

will prevail. -- Islamic State is. Where is the gun, do you know? It's

in Misrata. Who has it. The gun is here somewhere, but he doesn't know

who has it. In Misrata, in a half finished

building, people have gathered for a wake. These men are from Sirte.

They've managed to escape the harsh regime of Islamic State.

This man's brother was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. He was

executed in the most horrific manner.

They show me a picture on their mobile phone. It's all over Facebook

they say. O God, yeah. The man's name was Milad. He was recently

married. He leaves behind an infant son. He was left like that for three

days. His friends and relatives all have similar stories. They cut my

nephew's head off with a sword, they said, then they displayed his corpse

in public for four days. Over the past year they say foreign fighters

have poured into Sirte. As in Iraq and Syria, so in Libya,

Islamic State has been carrying out attacks far beyond its base in

Sirte. Their targets are often civilians or the institutions of the

state. The week before we arrived they detonated a truck bomb at a

police training centre west of Misrata. More than 50 people died.

It is just so sad. These people had thrown off the shackles of 42 years

of dictatorship, and what they have found is actually something worse

than that, something that is equally as brutal as Gaddafi's regime, but

much more unpredictable. When Gaddafi was killed, he was

brought to Misrata, where his body was put on public display by my old

contact, Anwar. How you? 2011 I last saw you. Hoping him and his friends

can help us search for the man who captured Gaddafi. Some are dead. One

has lost his mind, they told me. He is in Misrata, is he? That is

Mohammed. He was carried aloft by the crowd, held as a hero. They

promise to find me his number. The last time I saw Anwar, he and his

men were high on hope. Today, Libya is falling apart, fracturing a long

deep faultlines. Into this poisonous mix, Islamic

State has injected itself. It has made its base in Gaddafi's hometown

of Sirte. Anwar and his men are well aware of what they are up against.

Regime loyalists bolstered why an influx of foreign fighters. Because

the international forces are fighting Daesh in Syria and Iraq,

you worried they will come more strongly into Libya? Yes, because if

Daesh feel there will be finished Syria and Iraq, the best place will

be here for them in the beer. Because there is not a strong

government to fight them -- Libya. Tripoli is the capital of a divided

country. The government here is backed by an uneasy coalition of

Islamist militias. It is not recognised by the international

community, which instead supports a rival secular leaning administration

in the East. A city where life was once oppressive, but relatively

stable, has become unpredictable and dangerous. Marine has seen friends

kidnapped, even killed, just for being in the wrong place at the

right time. It comes daily, and that is really disturbing. You can't

change it. You want to change it, but you can't, and you can't protect

the people you love. You can't even protect yourself. She was a

first-year medical student when the revolution began. Now she is on the

cusp of becoming a qualified doctor. It is people like her who might one

day turn the promise of those hopeful days into reality. Do you

see a future for yourself in Libya? Well, a future, before I was making

plans, five-year Antonia plans, but right now, I don't know if I will

leave five days or five years? -- and ten year plans.

The rise of the militias and the growth of Islamic State threatens

not trust Libya's future but its past as well. Between Tripoli and

Misrata is the agent Roman city -- ancient. It is one of the best

preserved archaeological sites in North Africa. Should Islamic State

reach this far, it would surely suffered the same fate as the Syrian

city of Palmyra. The defence is left to volunteers. It's in UNESCO World

Heritage status will not protect it. So men like this stand guard with

nothing but a Kalashnikov. Harley is begging for help, any kind

of help. More money to pay men, even radios. As it is, he is on his own

-- said Iraq. We have left messages for Mohammed, finally. But

meanwhile, the military has given us permission to visit their forward

position. We drive south into the desert towards Sirte, where Gaddafi

was from and was killed. Now it is the headquarters of Islamist state

in Africa. 120 kilometres from Misrata is the last line of defence

against IS. This is a crucial strategic point. This fork in the

road. That way leads south, so whoever controls this road controls

a vast chunk of southern Libya. This road down here takes you to Sirte,

and basically just beyond this point here is IS controlled territory. As

in Iraq, Islamic State in Libya has recruited loyalists of the deposed

regime. Along with the foreign fighters, they make for a formidable

foe. These men are from Brigade 100 and city six, an elite unit

dedicated to the battle with IS -- 166. With other units, they are a

combined force, about 1400 men. That is less than half the number of

estimated IS fighters. Small numbers of Nato special forces

have quietly been sent in to explore potential local allies. Britain,

America and others are considering sending in a bigger force, perhaps

as many as 6000 troops, in a training capacity. But with no

agreement between the beer's rival government, the deployment has been

held up -- Libya. Sooner or later, this patch of desert will likely

become the next IS battleground. Hello, Mohammed. And then some news.

Hello, it is Gabriel Gatehouse from the BBC. How you? I don't know if

you remember, but we met in Sirte when you captured Colonel Gaddafi.

You remember me? How are you? Are you free? Said that, I think, is

Mohammed Elbibi, the guy with the blue top and baseball hat. He is

here. I'd spoken to him. We are meeting him in an hour's time.

Hello. How you? To retake our shoes of? Is that your PlayStation? You

remember this? Yes. It was like you with a hero of the moment. Everyone

was holding you up? They thought I killed him and I caught him. The

rebels saw the gun in Mohammed's hand, so they thought he was the one

who killed Gaddafi, but it wasn't. Amid the confusion, he had simply

found the pistol lying on the ground. Mohammed became the

accidental hero of the revolution. And do you know what has happened to

the gun? Where is the gun? Can you get it? Yes, I will call my father,

because it is with him. It is with him? Yes. I think we may have found

the gun. The family are wary of their trophy. There are still

Gaddafi loyalists out there. Mohammed asked us to tell the world

it was not he who killed net. His face will forever be associated with

the Golden gun, but his father wanted to remain off-camera. Do you

have the gun with you now? OK. Can I see it? Wow. There it is. Yes, it's

empty. OK. That is extraordinary. It's heavy. It is a present from the

sign of Gaddafi. A present from his son? I think. So basically a

celebration of Colonel Gaddafi's. It is extraordinary to see this thing

again after 4.5 years. I help this on the day everyone thought the

revolution was over and Libya was starting a bright new future. Here

we are nearly five years down the line, and the country is still at

war with itself. When you found this gun, did you expect things to turn

out this way? I am really sad about that, because when you see Libyan

killing Libyan, it is so bad. In Tripoli, this is what remains of

Colonel Gaddafi's once imposing compound. Today, it is a rubbish

dump. That burnt out a building was a shopping centre. It was torched by

an Islamist militia who said it was a place of sin. Libya has got rid of

its dictator, but the fear remains. The future of this country seems

more uncertain now than it has done at any time since then. The fate of

this unfinished Revolution is becoming ever more important as they

smack gets sucked in to the global jihadist struggle for an Islamic

State -- as Libya gets sucked in. Perhaps Gaddafi's Riddle and was

indeed a foretaste of the violence that was to come -- brutal end. The

long and difficult journey that would follow the Arab Spring. That

Golden gun, which once symbolised a bright new era, looks today more

like an omen, a promise of battles yet to be fought.

We're keeping warnings under close review.