20/10/2011 BBC News at Ten

The end of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi. The dramatic moment when he's

captured and then killed in Sirte. He died in the city where he was

born - a humiliating end for a man who once called himself "a king of

kings." We caught him in there. We shot him, somebody shot him by gun.

Colonel Gaddafi had been on the run for two months, following the fall

of Tripoli. His convoy came under attack from jets as Sirte, his last

bastion of power, fell. These are the holes where the

fighters say they found Colonel Gaddafi hiding. They dragged him

out of here. One fighter said to me the former Libyan dictator asked

him, "What have I done to you?" Celebrations across Libya as they

realise the man who ruled with an iron fist for 4 years is dead.

have -- 42 years is dead. They have done what they have to do. With

Gaddafi gone, we will ask what the future now holds for Libya? In

Spain the Basque separatist group, ETA says its armed campaign is

finally over, after 50 years. And Vincent Tabak, the man accused of

murdering Joanna Yeates tells a court about the moment he killed

her last year. And coming up on the BBC News

channel: We will bring you continuing reaction to today's

historic news from Libya. Stay with us throughout the evening for the

Good evening. Colonel Gaddafi has been captured and killed in his

home city of Sirte. He was found cowering in a storm drain after his

convoy apparently came under attack. It was a humiliating end for the

dictator who ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. The BBC is

the only British broadcaster in Sirte. Our correspondent, Gabrial

Gatehouse, has just sent the first of our reports tonight. You may

find some of the graphic images disturbing. It must have been a

painful, bewildering end to the man who had himself ruled Libya through

force for more than four decades. These pictures filmed on the

mobiles of the men who captured Muammar Gaddafi show him clearly

still alive shortly after he was dragged from a ditch on the

outskirts of the city of his birth. After that, we are told he was

taken by ambulance to a hospital just outside Sirte. From there, to

Misrata - the rebellious centre with which was beaten out of his

forces earlier this year. Somewhere along that journey Colonel Gaddafi

died, bringing a final end to his 42 years in power. The reaction

from the fighters in Sirte was jubilant and ecstatic as the news

of his capture hit home. The sight of his golden pistol was all the

evidence they needed. The men who were there when he was taken are

already becoming legends in their own lifetime.

This is the hole where these fighters say they found Colonel

Gaddafi hiding. They dragged him out of here, and one fighter said

to me, the former Libyan dictator asked him, "What have I done to

you?" Fighters poured into the ditch to see the place where

Muammar Gaddafi spent his last moments as a free man. Crawled into

a sewerage pipe, running under a main road on the outskirts of town.

The site has become an instant photo opportunity. Goodbye Gaddafi.

See you when I die. I will go to a better place but you will go to

hell. Amid the celebrations, arguments

erupted over who was the one to capture the former dictator. This

man said it was he. The blood on his shirt front, he said was

Gaddafi's. These people sense today they have made history.

But a gruesome reminder that in war one man's victory is another's

defeat. Just across the road from that ditch where Colonel Gaddafi

was captured the remains of his convoy lie in the dust. These cars

were hit by a NATO airstrike as they were trying to escape. His

entourage incinerated by French missiles.

As these former rebels enjoy their day of victory, the sound of

shooting can still be heard, not all is in celebration. Their leader

may be dead, but some of Colonel Gaddafi's loyalists have not been

captured. The fighting is not quite over yet.

As reports of Colonel Gaddafi's capture spread, thousands of people

took to the streets across Libya, firing guns in the air, sounding

horns and waving the revolution's flag. Our correspondent, Caroline

Hawley, has spent the day in the He's finished, they chant, he's

finished. Boys who only lived through a fraction of Muammar

Gaddafi's 42 rule. Not too young to celebrate his humiliating end. As

news emerged of the death of the fugitive leader the capital erupted

in an explosion of relief and joy. Fighters and civilians, young and

old, all headed out on to the streets.

They have done what we have to do. If it's that we shall do it again.

Gaddafi is dead. Gaddafi's finished. Gaddafi is dead. We killed Gaddafi.

We killed a criminal, the most criminal man in the world.

challenges ahead are immense. With these dramatic developments,

Libyans can now hope to bury their past and build a new future in a

country which has suffered so much. From hiding he had released several

audio messages calling on supporters to rise up. There were

fears he could help direct an insurgency. Palpable relief for the

new authorities. The interim Prime Minister came out to announce the

news. "Muammar Gaddafi has been killed,"

he says "We Libyans have waited a long time for this moment. Who he

was killed and by -- how he was killed and by who is being

investigated." For these Libyans the only thing that mattered was

that the man they had hated and feared for so long was gone. They

celebrated into the night. This 12 year old has a cousin injured in

hospital. I feel so happy. It is amazing. I have never felt happier

than today. Within the next couple of days the new authorities will

declare the liberation of Libya, paving the way for a political

process here. The party has only just begun.

We can speak to Caroline now, who's in Tripoli. We have seen the

pictures of capturing Gaddafi when he was alive. Questions now about

when he died and who actually killed him? That is right. The NTC

is saying he was killed in cross fire, that no orders were given to

shoot him. They say he died in a gun battle between his supporters

and Government fighters. I suspect there is more to come yet on the

exact circumstances of his death. It is still being celebrated. It is

way I am wearing this precautionary gear. There's a lot of anti-

aircraft fire and gunfire we've been hearing here as the sell

braigs continue. -- the celebrations continue. What of his

sons, who were said to be with him at the time? This seems to be the

end of Colonel Gaddafi's dynasty. His national security adviser has

apparently been killed. His body is in the town of Misrata, which

suffered so much during this war. It's apparently in a private house

and people have been going up and taking photographs. Then there's

the question of the fate of Saif Al-Islam, who was such a prominent

spokesman for his regime in its dying days. Conflicting reports

about what has happened to him. One report saying he has been detained

and is injured, but more to come yet. Of course the big catch is

Muammar Gaddafi himself. The NTC is saying he will be buried in a

secret location. Thank you very much. Here, David

Cameron said he was proud of the role Britain had played in bringing

about the end of Colonel Gaddafi's regime. He said Libyans now have an

even greater chance of building a strong and democratic future. Our

political editor examines Britain's role in Gaddafi's demise.

Libya was David Cameron's first war. Colonel Gaddafi his first foe.

Today his first real taste of military victory. If there was

euphoria inside Downing Street at the news of Gaddafi's death, the

Prime Minister was determined not to show it when he stepped outside

just moments after the news was confirmed.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Prime Minister Jibril has confirmed that

Colonel Gaddafi is dead. I think today is a day to remember all of

Colonel Gaddafi's victims, from those who died in connection with

the Pan Am Flight over Lockerbie, to Yvonne Fletcher in a London

street and obviously all the victims of IRA terrorism who died

through their use of Libyan Semtex. This very street, once echoed to

the sound of that Libyan explosive. When an IRA mortar, fired from

Whitehall forced John Major and his ministers to hide underneath the

Cabinet table. It was a Libyan gun, fired from their London embassy

which killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher on duty outside.

And it was Colonel Gaddafi who ordered the blowing up of a packed

plane above Lockerbie. Yet, Tony Blair would go on to

embrace the dictator and to shake a hand which had so much British

blood on it. You're looking well. The deal in the desert was a reward

he said for Gaddafi abandoning his country's weapons of mass

destruction and co-operating in the war against Al-Qaeda terrorism.

Without this uprising in Benghazi, Libya's second city, who knows -

perhaps Gaddafi would still be our friend. The threat of a massacre

here convinced David Cameron of the need to act. We were in a race

against time to avoid the slaughter of civilians in Benghazi. Now all

of us would have hoped to have avoided the use of force. Force was

used. Over 3,000 RAF sorties were flown, at a cost of �300 million,

as Britain joined a broad coalition. Just over a month ago, the Prime

Minister and President Sarkozy of France, were hailed as the

liberators of Benghazi. Colonel Gaddafi said he would hunt you down

like rats, but you showed the courage of lions. Tonight, Libyans

living in exile filed the edge wear Road to stage their own

celebrations. Words are usually chosen carefully. This is how

America's Secretary of State reacted when she first heard the

news. Wow! Guests at a celebration in Downing Street this evening

heard the Prime Minister reveal his real feelings. Obviously dil valley

being the festival of triumph of over eve vil and the death of a

devil perhaps there is a resonance in what I'm saying tonight.

unspoken message has been - this is not Iraq - I am not Tony Blair.

After his first victory in his first war though, some will ask,

whether like Tony Blair, he will discover an appetite for military

action? In the US, President Obama said the

death of Colonel Gaddafi marked the end of a long and painful chapter

for the people of Libya. He said they would now have the opportunity

to determine their own destiny. This is a momentous day in the

history of Libya. The dark shadow of tyranny has been

lifted. And with this enormous promise, the Libyan people now have

a great responsibility. To build an inclusive and tolerant

and democratic Libya that stands as the ultimate rebuke to the

dictatorship. Our correspondent is in Washington for us tonight.

President Obama has taken some of the credit for his downfall, is he

right to do so He some would accuse he's having his cake and eating.

Some would say he is baking it for different audiences. It is true he

said the world refused to stand by. It was a close-run thing in America.

Many in the administration didn't want to get involved. They decided

in it at the 11th hour. Today he's talking about the strength of

American leadership how America led NATO. The reason he took a back

seat and stood back and let the Europeans do a lot of heavy lifting

is he is opposed to President Bush. He doesn't want this to be seen

anything like the Iraq war. He talks about no American boots on

the ground. He's saying this was done in a way that was completely

different and he doesn't want America being seen as imposing its

The uprising began with street protests and turned into an

international effort to remove the dictator. Jeremy Bowen looks at the

downfall. Libya is where the sweetness of the

Arab Spring turned sour. The Gaddafi regime led the counter-

revolution of Arab dictators, and the people who no longer wanted to

be his fall-back. What started as an impulsive fight by the rebels

turned with foreign help into a successful insurgency. They have

won the war, keeping the peace and winning it is the next challenge.

Colonel Gaddafi had a spring in his stead when I met him in Tripoli in

March. He seemed to relish taking on the world again, or at least the

West and some of his Arab enemies. He was defiant, and after 42 years

at the top, he insisted the Libyan people were behind him. They love

me, all my people with May, they love me all. They will die to

protect me and my people. Died they did. Those who supported him and

those who hated him. No one really knows how many people have been

The uprising started in and around Benghazi, Libya's second city, a

place that was neglected and his citizens he had never trusted. The

feeling was mutual. The east of Libya fell quickly to the rebels,

but a hard fight lay ahead for the rest of the country. In Tripoli,

Colonel Gaddafi turned his forces on demonstrators who wanted, like

the Egyptians and the Tunisians, to overthrow a dictator who had ruled

for decades. Night after night in Tripoli, his spokesman, Moussa

Ibrahim, pushed the regime's line, defiance and threat. Who gave you

the right to intervene in our internal affairs? You will regret

it! In the end, the decisive moment came when the Arab League called

for the establishment of a no-fly zone. NATO bombing and military

training for the rebels weakened Libya now has a clean slate, a new

start. It has big reserves of oil, some money will not be a problem.

The country has no tradition of democracy, but there are hopes of

elections within two years. A more immediate problem is that cracks

have appeared in the anti-Gaddafi coalition. Tensions have risen

between an Islamist fighter, now the military commander in Tripoli,

and the former Gaddafi ministers who lead the National Transitional

Council. Libya has had the most complete of all the Arab

revolutions. The old regime has been smashed. But it also has to

recover from civil war and four decades of dictatorship. It will

You can find more in-depth coverage about the capture and death of

Coming up on the programme: After the violence and the protests, the

travellers finally leave Dale Farm It has emerged that EU leaders who

were hoping to agree a rescue plan for the euro on Sunday have delayed

the decision and will now hold another summit by the middle of

next week to give themselves more time to reach a deal. Robert Peston

is with me now. They have delayed it, how serious is that? It is

potentially very worrying. This weekend's summit was supposed to

reach an agreement on a package of measures to prevent a serious

banking crisis in the eurozone, but it is now clear that there are

major obstacles in reaching that agreement. First of all, no deal

has been reached with lenders to Greece on how much they should

reduce what they are owed so that Greece's debts are reduced to a

more sustainable level. But probably more fundamental is the

split between France and Germany on how to increase the bail-out fund

for the eurozone, known as the European financial stability

facility. France wants the ECB to stand behind that bail-out fund.

For Germany, the involvement of the central bank is potentially very

risky. They do not like the idea of central banks ever lending to

governments, because they see that as bringing the risk of a

debasement of the currency, and the reason they are worried about that

is because of painful memories of hyperinflation in the 1930s. So

this is a serious disagreement. Now, President Sarkozy and Angela Merkel

have said that they expected to be a definitive agreement by Wednesday

at the latest. If that were not to be the case, investors would

genuinely worried. For now, investors are giving them the

benefit of the doubt, but any further serious slippage and we can

see the kind of mayhem in markets that, frankly, the eurozone leaders

are desperate to avoid. Robert Peston, thank you.

In Spain, the Basque separatist paramilitary organisation ETA has

announced what it calls a definitive cessation of armed

activity. The message came in a video recording past did the BBC

following years of mediation efforts involving many of those who

helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland. The campaign for

independence for the Basque region of the border between France and

Spain has spanned more than 50 years had led to the deaths of more

than 800 people. James Robbins has this exclusive report.

ETA's leaders are still fugitives, but then the message, passed to the

BBC, could mark an end to four decades of killing and acceptance

that the pursuit of a separate Basque state must rely exclusively

ETA was formed over 50 years ago during the dictatorship of General

Franco. A huge bomb in Madrid in 1973 killed Spain's Prime Minister.

His car was blown more than 100 ft into the air... The killing ensured

the whole world took notice. At its height, ETA killed nearly 100

people in a single year. More recently, the organisation has been

heavily squeezed by arrests and falling support. So what lies

behind the passing to the BBC of this video message, brought to us

on a simple computer memory stick by messengers, by third parties and

from the Basque country? Well, extraordinary story of years of

secret effort by mediators to try to replicate parts of the Northern

Ireland peace process in Spain. Involving many of the key players

in that process, including Gerry Adams and Tony Blair. This is a big

moment. This has been the last armed conflict, if you like, in

Europe. It has been going on for half a century. Many people have

lost their lives. You know, this is great news if people can actually

put this conflict behind them and get on with trying to build a fair

and just society in peace and harmony. The Northern Ireland peace

talks that ended with an historic agreement... And after the success

of Northern Ireland's Good Friday agreement, many figures intensified

mediation efforts with ETA, including Gerry Adams. I have been

there on a number of occasions. Over that grubby period, scene of

people from my office and senior people from Tony Blair's of this

have done an awful lot of backroom work, very detailed work, to assist

and encourage the process. ETA's commitment in a new video

message to end all armed activity has been welcomed by the Spanish

government as a victory for democracy.

Vincent Tabak, the man accused of murdering landscape architect

Joanna Yeates in Bristol, has been telling the jury about the moment

he Kildare last year. The Dutch engineer, who admits manslaughter

but denies murder, told the court he put his hand to her throat to

stop her screaming. From Bristol Crown Court, Jon Kay reports.

10 months after he killed Jo Yeates, Vincent Tabak came to offer his

story in his own words. Bed boyfriend, Greg Reardon, on the

left, joined her parents and her brother in a packed courtroom. To

start with, the defendant spoke with clarity and confidence, but

when he was questioned about the death of his next-door neighbour

last Christmas, he appeared to break down several times, stopping

and sighing deeply. He claimed that Ms Yeates had invited him into the

kitchen for a drink, that she made a flirtatious comments and he went

to kiss her. When she screamed, he said he held her throat for a short,

short time. In a faltering voice, Vincent Tabak described how he --

she went limp and a body fell to the floor. He said in a moment that

followed, he panicked and felt desperate. He apologised to the

family for putting them through hell. Vincent Tabak said he cannot

believe now that he went supermarket shopping with Jo's body

in the boot of his car, but he denied prosecution claims that he

had driven around Bristol in his silver Renault just to cover his

tracks. He appeared distressed when he was shown graphic photographs of

injuries found on Joanna Yeates' body, time and again saying he did

not know if he had caused them, but he insisted he had not intended to

The last remaining residents of Britain's largest illegal

travellers' site in Essex have finally moved out, ending a ten-

year legal dispute. They left peacefully this afternoon after a

two-day stand-off with police and bailiffs.

10 years after they arrived, the travellers of Dale Farm are back on

the road. This was, they say, a dignified exit. They were followed

by the activists who have supported them. Yesterday morning, some of

them used sustained violence. walk out with dignity, dignity.

Where will you be tonight? Any ideas? I do not even know where I'm

going to go. The police and bailiffs operation has been huge

and hugely costly. Thousands of man-hours, millions of pounds spent.

Today, though, council leaders are satisfied with the progress. It is

a shame, obviously, that it did not happen sooner and that we had to go

through what we went through yesterday and the previous four

weeks to get to where we are today, but it is very encouraging, all the

same. Bailiffs are already working on site to remove mobile homes.

Travellers are being allowed back to pack up and leave. After all

this time, after all of the courtroom delays, after violence

and bloodshed, and after millions of pounds spent, this, it seems, is

the moment when resistance at Dale Farm comes to an end. But this

looks not so much like a problem solved but a problem shifted. The

travellers are looking for a new place to park their caravans, and

some hope that one day, perhaps Returning at our main story, the

capture and death of Colonel Gaddafi in his home city of Sirte.

The former Libyan leader first seized power in a bloodless coup

back in 1969. He went on to become one of the world's most ruthless

dictators. World affairs editor John Simpson looks back now at

Gaddafi's life and regime. I cannot leave the honourable soil

of my country. I will die a martyr at the end! Many people doubted it,

but he did not try to escape. He died as he said he would. It is

hard now to remember how glamorous he once seemed to many people. In

September 1969, when he seized power, he looks like a symbol of

1960s revolutionary chic. He claimed he was just a figurehead

and that the Libyan people ran everything through democratic

committees, but that was pure fiction. He was the boss, and his

secret police terrified everyone into obeying him. This total

disconnect between rhetoric and reality was characteristic of the

entire Gaddafi system. As a result, it was really hard to interview him,

as I first found in 1979. Was Western influence in the Middle

East declining, I asked. When? You mean the influence of America?

Yes. Disappearing now? When I asked him about all the arms he had given

the IRA in Northern Ireland, he simply refused to answer. Some of

his supporters were acting like terrorists themselves. In London,

in 1984, during the siege of the Libyan embassy, an official inside

fired out at the police and killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher. After the

bombing of US servicemen in Berlin, which may or may not have been

Colonel Gaddafi's work, the US President, Ronald Reagan, ordered

the bombing of Libya in 1986. Gaddafi escaped unhurt, but he made

immense propaganda out of it all. Libya got the full blame for the

Lockerbie bombing, which made Colonel Gaddafi a pariah for years,

but a pariah with oil. Libya became more and more corrupt, although

Gaddafi still describes himself as a poor better when I insisted on

being interviewed in his tent. I asked him about stories that they

had been an attempt to kill him. course, it is true! Yes, yes, it

has happened, of course. And Britain was behind this attempted

assassination. But it was the British and the Americans who were

most determined to bring him in from the cold, something which

still attracts a lot of criticism. If a country is prepared to say, we

want to put the past behind us, we want to give up chemical and

nuclear weapons capability, we want to seize power ties with terrorist

groups, we should be willing to open up to that. For more than 40

years, Colonel Gaddafi seemed like a fixture. Now almost everyone in

Libya is celebrating his ball. He will not leave any kind of system