Muammar Gaddafi spent his last moments standing his ground and prepared for the inevitable as the rebels finally came for him. That is according to the Colonel’s loyal employee – one the few who witnessed his last days and secret funeral.
Huneish Nasr, who was Gaddafi’s personal driver for more than 30 years, has told the Guardian about the deposed leader’s last moments.
“He was always standing still and looking to the west,” Nasr said. “I didn’t see fear in him.”
Nasr said he spent five days with Gaddafi and his guards in the besieged town of Sirte, holding the last stand in ‘District 2’ neighborhood. They moved constantly from house to house under fierce attacks from revolutionary fighters. According to Nasr, Gaddafi seemed to be struggling to accept the reality of what was happening around him.
“He wasn’t scared, but he didn’t seem to know what to do,” Nasr said. “It was the only time I ever saw him like that.”
After Gaddafi’s convoy had been intercepted upon departure from Sirte, Huneish Nasr surrendered. Just before he was knocked to the ground, he saw a raving crowd swoop on his boss. That was the last time he saw Gaddafi alive.
Over three decades of service, Huneish Nasr, never saw any bad behavior in Gaddafi, who was “always just the boss” for Nasr. “He treated me well,” Nasr said.
Nasr is a member of Gaddafi’s tribe and one of the few surviving members of the inner circle who did not betray Gaddafi. But he could not give any details of where the surviving loyalists might be.
“If any of the other close staff are still alive, I don’t know where they are or what happened to them,” Nasr said. “The rest of them may be somewhere with the revolutionaries or they may be dead.”
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was buried at dawn on October 25 in an undisclosed location in the desert. Huneish Nasr says that he was one of a select group who were at the funeral, along with Gaddafi’s personal cleric, Khaled Tantoush, and two representatives of the ruling National Transitional Council.