Gaddafi given a secret burial

Muammar Gaddafi remains a mystery even after his death. The Libyan leader, known for his eccentricity and enigmatic nature, has been buried in an unknown location in Sahara desert on Tuesday morning. The deposed leader of Libya together with his son Mutassim and one of his ex-aids was given an Islamic burial five days following his capture and killing.

Khaled Tantoush, late Colonel Gaddafi’s cleric, who was also captured with the ex-Libyan head, read a prayer following which the bodies were shifted from Misrata after four days of public display. The bodies were then handed over to two National Transitional Council (NTC) loyalists for inhumation. The time of burial is suggested to be 5 am local time.

Earlier the body of the deposed Libyan ruler was put in a meat locker in the coastal city of Misrata for five days of public display.

One of the reasons for such top secrecy is that NTC wanted to avoid the attempt by Gaddafi loyalists to turn his burial site to become a shrine.

It is being said that the witnesses presented at Colonel Gaddafi’s burial had been sworn on the Holy Koran never to expose the true location of Gaddafi's grave.

Amazon heat on publishers

Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce site is soon going to into big-time publishing. Those who do not know, the premier shopping site has already been in the publishing business for several years. And this time the online retailer is creating a massive ripple in the publishing world with its ambitious expansion plan. The news is that Amazon is wooing top-notch fiction and non-fiction authors to bypass their publishers. This would not only place Amazon distinctively and fiercely in competition with New York’s publishing houses that have been its suppliers for years, but would also make the services of critics and literary agents redundant.

To give its flagship line a head start, the leading online company has hired the services of Laurence Kirshbaum, the ex-New York editor as the publishing head of Amazon. It has signed up an undisclosed deal with the noted self- help guru Timothy Ferriss in August this year. The inclusion of 34-year-old Timothy Ferriss as the first publishing writer in the leading company is seen as a natural choice as Ferriss is adept in new media (technology) as well as an expert in publishing himself. The writer is very much hopeful about the success of the technology company moving into publishing business in a big way. In mid-October, Amazon has also reportedly paid Penny Marshall, a noted actress and director a whopping $800,000 for her memoir.

Currently, Amazon is set to publish 122 books in various genres in the fall of 2011 – from e-book to physical form. Hailed for its deep pockets and unmatched distribution system, Amazon is trying to play down its goal to carve out a niche market. But traditional publishers are quite nervous about the new development as they have already been feeling the heat of rise in e-book sales for some time. But the new-age writers are not complaining. They seemed to be in a stronger bargaining position with their traditional publishers, at least for the time being. And so are the customers. For them book reading cannot get more interesting from the comfort of their home. Getting hands on just-launched books is like enjoying freshly baked cake straight from the oven!

Dramatic wipeout of Muammar Gaddafi

And finally justice has prevailed for the Libyans as the tyranny of Muammar Gaddafi met a brutal and shameful death. In his final hour, the self-proclaimed ‘King of Kings’ and his dwindling die-hard supporters were vastly outnumbered by National Transitional Council fighters (NCT). Colonel Gaddafi was captured while trying to flee from the coastal city Sirte, his home town and last strong hold, for the west. With his death comes an end of era marked by violent oppression and tyranny on Libyans and spread of instability and terror around the globe that lasted more than four decades.

Footage on Al Jazeera showed Muammar Gaddafi was captured alive. The fallen dictator of Libya had taken refuge in a highway drainage pipe after abandoning his jeep that he was using to escape from Sirte. His bloodied and staggering body was beaten and dragged through an angry and unrelenting crowd to an ambulance as he pleaded for forgiveness. Several conflicting accounts are coming out about the circumstances of his death. It is still to be known whether the Colonel died from gunshot wounds, bled to death in the ambulance on the way to Misrata or assassinated. There is also another version – he was shot in the chest by one of his guards. His partly naked body was driven to a mosque in Misrata (the western city) and DNA test was conducted. The forensic expert confirmed close-ranged bullet holes in his head and abdomen.

As of now, there is uncertainty about Colonel Gaddaffi’s burial. It has been postponed until a third party investigation over the circumstances of his death is carried out.

What a tragic end to a life that believed in violence and inflicting pain on others!