US Drone/French fighter helped corner fleeing Muammar Qaddafi

A U.S. Predator drone was involved in the airstrike on Muammar Qaddafi's convoy Thursday in the moments before his death, a U.S. defense official told Fox News.

The official said the drone, along with a French fighter jet, fired on the "large convoy" leaving Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte. A French defense official earlier said about 80 vehicles were in the convoy -- the official said the strike did not destroy the convoy but that fighters on the ground afterward intercepted the vehicle carrying Qaddafi.

He was later killed, reportedly in the crossfire between Qaddafi supporters and opponents as he was being transferred.

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi was confirmed dead on Thursday, captured near his hometown of Sirte. Here is a look back at how the "king of kings of Africa" came to an end.

President Obama and other officials would not elaborate on the circumstances of Qaddafi's death. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said only that U.S. and NATO actions helped Libyans reach this point.

But as some lawmakers continued to criticize the administration for its handling of the Libya operation, Obama pointed to the end of the Qaddafi regime as the close of a "long and painful chapter" for Libyans and defended the multilateral mission which began in March.

"Today we can definitively say that the Qaddafi regime has come to an end," Obama said. "This is a momentous day in the history of Libya."

Obama, speaking in the Rose Garden, said of Libyans, "You have won your revolution."
Obama said the NATO mission would soon be over; if so, the use of a Predator drone Thursday would mark a fitting end for U.S. involvement.

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Breaking: Gaddafi dead ...

Ousted Libya leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been killed, a National Transitional Council official has claimed.

Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters news agency the deposed dictator was wounded.
The senior NTC military official said: "He was captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance."

It was later reported Gaddafi had died from his injuries.
"He was also hit in his head," the official said. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."

A senior official with Libya's National Transitional Council told Reuters Gaddafi was captured near his hometown of Sirte at dawn as he tried to flee in a convoy that came under attack from NATO warplanes.

A Libyan fighter claimed Gaddafi was hiding in a hole in his hometown of Sirte shouting: "Don't shoot, don't shoot.

Epitaph for a scumbag:


Video showing Gaddafi alive - just after capture:

Breaking: Gadhafi captured?

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Revolutionary fighters have captured deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Libyan television said Thursday, citing the Misrata Military Council.

That report, however, could not be independently confirmed.
Horns blared and celebratory gunfire burst into the air in Tripoli.

"It's a great victory for the Libyan people," said Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam.
Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. The mercurial leader came to power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.
By the end of his rule, he claimed to be "King of Kings," a title he had a gathering of tribal leaders grant him in 2008.

But a February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.
But whether Thursday turns out to be the biggest day in recent Libyan history was still uncertain. Statements made by representatives of Libya's new leadership in the past have not always turned out to be true.

Many were waiting for photographs as proof of Gadhafi's capture.

Unruly passenger disrupts SW flight - diverts to Amarillo

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Update 5:20pm KVII TV



A man is now in custody after officials said he became unruly and disruptive aboard a Southwest Airlines flight Tuesday afternoon.

The plane made an emergency landing at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. It was originally reported by airport officials that the man had attempted to break in to the cockpit. Airport officials have now confirmed to Pronews 7 that he did not try to break in to the cockpit.

"The control tower initially said he was trying to break in," Rhodes said. "I can only assume that's what the aircrew told the tower. We got a report he was trying to break into the cockpit but that is inaccurate to report now."

"At about 3:30 we were notified by the air traffic control tower that a Southwest aircraft was reporting a passenger trying to break in to the cockpit," Rhodes told Pronews 7. "At that point we took appropriate measures and the individual is in custody."

Amarillo Police responded to the airport and took the subject into custody.

LINK TO AUDIO RECORDING OF INITIAL RADIO REPORT

UPDATE: Airlines flight 3683 from Los Angeles to Kansas City, officials said.

Ali Reza Shahsauri, 29, was arrested on a charge of interference with a flight crew.

Amarillo police took the man into custody and he is now being questioned by federal authorities, Rhodes said.

No one was injured.

A passenger on the aircraft, Doug Oerding said Shahsauri started screaming obsenities at passengers during the flight.

Attendants attempted to calm Shahsauri and then he went to the restroom at back of plane and started making more commotion, Oerding said.

“All of us guys were looking at him like are we going to have to do something,” Oerding said.

The son of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki killed in drone strike

(CNN) -- The son of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was among those killed in a trio of drone attacks in southern Yemen on Friday night, a security official said.

The attacks, carried out in the Shabwa district, killed seven suspected militants, the defense ministry said. It would not confirm that Abdul Rahman Anwar Awlaki was among them.
The senior security official in Shabwa, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the younger Awlaki had been hiding in the mountains of Shabwa for more than eight months. He had first-hand knowledge of the death, he said.
The Awlaki family did not want to comment.

On September 30, a U.S. drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born miltant cleric who was a key leader of the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
President Barack Obama hailed that death as a "major blow" for the terror group.

Friday night's attack also killed Ibrahim al-Banna, the head media officer for AQAP, the Yemeni defense ministry said.