World leaders have welcomed the death of Libya’s Muammar Gadafy, saying it marks a new dawn for the country.
British prime minister David Cameron welcomed Gadafy’s death and urge people to think of the victims of his regime.
"Today is a day to remember all Colonel Gadafy’s victims," he told reporters outside 10 Downing Street, listing people killed by the IRA, which Gadafy supplied with weapons and explosives, the victims of the Lockerbie bombing and British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher.
He gave credit to the new Libyan government and said Libyans can look forward to a "strong and democratic future." "I'm proud of the role Britain has played in helping them bring that about," he said. "We will help them, we will work with them."
In a statement, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commisison president José Manuel Barroso said Gadafy’s death “marks the end of an era of despotism and repression from which the Libyan people have suffered for too long”.
They said Libya can turn a page in its history and embrace democracy. “We call on the National Transitional Council to pursue a broad based reconciliation process which reaches out to all Libyans and enables a democratic, peaceful and transparent transition in the country,” they said.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilore said Gadafy's death brings to an end "a sad and bloody chapter in Libya's history".
In a statement, he said he hoped it would "herald the conclusion" of the conflict. "I salute the Libyan people for their courage and perseverance in overcoming the cruel and oppressive Gadafy regime," he said. "The international community must now intensify its efforts to promote reconciliation within the country and to support the transformation of Libya into a properly functioning democracy in which the rule of law will be fully respected and basic human rights guaranteed for all."
"The National Transitional Council has committed itself to appointing as soon as possible an interim government which will work with the UN and the international community to build up the institutions of government, to foster economic development and to arrange for the holding of free and fair elections.
"I look forward to the implementation of this commitment and to the emergence as soon as possible of a new, democratic and free Libya."
Amnesty International said Libya's new leaders must bring to justice all those suspected of human rights abuses under Gadafy’s fallen regime..
"The legacy of repression and abuse from Colonel Muammar Gadafy's rule will not end until there is a full accounting for the past and human rights are embedded in Libya's new institutions," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for North Africa and the Middle East.
"Colonel Gadafy's death must not stop his victims in Libya from seeing justice being done. The many Libyan officials suspected of serious human rights violations committed during and before this year's uprising, including the infamous Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996, must answer for their crimes."
Libya's interim authorities said last month they had found a mass grave in the capital containing the bodies of more than 1,270 people killed in 1996 by Gadafy's security forces at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli.
US Senator John McCain, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said it was time for the United States to deepen its support for Libya's move toward democracy and safeguard human rights.
"The death of Muammar Gadafy marks an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution," Mr McCain said in a statement. "Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their country and economy."