Libya to be declared free today

TRIPOLI: Libya's new leadership will formally proclaim the country's liberation on Sunday after the death of Moamer Kadhafi.

"The announcement of the liberation will be announced in Benghazi at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Sunday, at the court of justice," said a senior NTC official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Benghazi, Libya's second city, is where rebels first rose up against the Kadhafi's regime in February, and where the National Transitional Council, the country's new regime, is still based.

With the death of Kadhafi, his son Mutassim and other top regime figures, and the fall of his hometown Sirte, the promised declaration was widely expected.

It will be followed by the formation of an interim government to oversee drawing up a new constitution and free elections after four decades of dictatorship.

But with another Kadhafi son -- longtime heir-apparent Seif al-Islam -- still unaccounted for, NTC leaders have waited, despite jubilation in towns across the country at the news that the once all-powerful tyrant was dead. (AFP)