Prime Minister Confirms: Gaddafi Dead

Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril has confirmed ex-head-of-state Moammar Gaddafi was killed this morning in his hometown of Sirte.

Jibril informed a news conference in Tripoli, ”We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Qaddafi has been killed.”

Reuters has reported that it appears Gaddafi was killed during fierce fighting near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday.

In the eight months since NATO’s involvement began with the Libyan revolution, reports of Gaddafi’s whereabouts have conflicted. However, according those close to Gaddafi, his hometown of Sirte was always his stronge-hold.

One of Gadhafi’s closest advisors, Abdullah al-Senussi, and one of the ex-leader’s sons, Mutassim, were killed in the action as well.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Libya just days ago and expressed that she hoped Gaddafi would be found. It’s been almost eight months since military action in Libya was authorized by President Obama, action that contributed to Gaddafi being ousted from power.

Pictures, screenshots, and videos of a body and face resembling Gaddafi’s have seemingly touched every corner of the web this morning. The body appeared to have a bloodied head wound–matching reports–and an emotionless face.

And, many of you have been adding your voices to the story as well; not only about the reported death, but also the way in which the story broke and what it might mean.