Libya, Moammar Gadhafi | featured news

A liberal alliance led by a former Libyan rebel prime minister said Sunday the party's unofficial preliminary results put it in the lead in the country's landmark parliamentary elections, the first since the ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Crowds of joyful Libyans, some with tears in their eyes, parted with the legacy of Muammar Gaddafi on Saturday as they voted in the first free national election in 60 years.

Months after rebels brought down the extravagant dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, the disarray in Libya's state finances at the end of last year was so bad the new leadership did not know the size of state assets, how their money was being spent, or what had happened to more than $2 billion transferred from the sovereign wealth fund.

President Barack Obama says it is important to resolve the ongoing conflict in Syria without outside military intervention. Obama says not every situation allows for the type of military action the U.S. and allies took in Libya, which led to the removal of Moammar Gadhafi last year. The president says a negotiated solution in Syria is possible. He defended his administration's handling of the violence there, saying the U.S. has been "relentless" in demanding that President Bashar Assad leave power.

The Mexican government said Wednesday the elaborate plan to bring in Saadi Qaddafi had been uncovered by Mexican intelligence agents and had resulted in the arrest of several conspirators.

Forces loyal to Libya's provisional government have captured Seif Islam Kadafi, fugitive son and onetime heir apparent of Libya's late ruler, Moammar Kadafi, according to news agency accounts from Libya.

After seven months of an aerial bombing campaign that helped depose longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, NATO officially ends its mission in Libya on Monday.

The International Criminal Court said Saturday that Libya's Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was in contact via intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.

NATO is to formally decide on Wednesday whether to end its mission over Libya now that Muammar Gaddafi is dead and buried and the country's new leaders have declared the nation "liberated".

The military council in Misurata said a funeral and burial were held at a secret location for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, his son and former defense minister.