Gadhafi buried in secret locationNEW: Rights group flags up "vast" stockpiles of unguarded weapons found near SirteLibya's chief pathologist says it may take a week to file his report into Gadhafi's deathA document purported to be Moammar Gadhafi's will is posted onlineMembers of Gadhafi's tribe were allowed to pray over the body, an NTC spokesman says
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The body of ousted Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi was buried early Tuesday morning, a National Transitional Council spokesman told CNN.
Gadhafi, his son Mutassim and his defense minister Abu Bakr Younis were taken to an undisclosed location for burial five days after he was killed in Sirte, according to Anees al-Sharif, spokesman for the National Transitional Council's military arm in Tripoli.
Members of the former leader's tribe were allowed to pray over the body, Sharif said.
The three bodies had been available for public viewing from a cold storage unit in recent days, except for being removed temporarily so autopsies could be conducted.
Gadhafi's family had issued a statement calling on the United Nations and Amnesty International to push Libya's new leadership "to hand over the bodies of the martyrs of their tribe so they can be buried according to Islamic rites," a pro-Gadhafi TV station reported.
A document purported to be Gadhafi's will was posted on a pro-Gadhafi website Tuesday. Its authenticity could not be verified.
In it, Gadhafi purportedly says he wishes to be buried in the clothes in which he died and according to Islamic law, in the cemetery in Sirte next to his relatives. He asks that his family be treated well, especially its women and children.
Urging the Libyan people not to relinquish the country's identity, history and achievements, he says: "I call on my supporters to continue resisting, and fighting any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always.
"The people should know that we could have sold out our cause in return for a secure and stable life. We received many offers but we chose confrontation, duty and honor."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that NATO may not end its mission in Libya -- due to wrap up October 31 -- quite as quickly as expected.
Speaking on a visit to Japan, he said: "I noticed today that there were comments from some of the Libya leadership asking that NATO continue its mission during this interim as they are trying to establish some of their governance."
Panetta said he would leave that decision up to NATO but added that the United States was looking at how to provide medical assistance to Libyan people injured as revolutionary fighters battled pro-Gadhafi forces.
Rights group Human Rights Watch flagged up concerns Tuesday that the NTC was failing to secure "vast" stockpiles of explosive weapons discovered around the city of Sirte in recent days, warning that such munitions could be used in terror attacks.
Two unguarded sites visited by HRW Saturday "contained surface-to-air missiles, tank and mortar rounds, large numbers of munitions, and thousands of guided and unguided aerial weapons," the group said.
CNN reporters in Libya have seen large quantities of unguarded weapons and a military site apparently containing the radioactive material yellowcake, a processed uranium ore that can be used to produce enriched uranium for nuclear purposes.
The U.S. government said earlier this month it had sent civilian experts to Libya to track down and destroy shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles it fears could be used to bring down a civilian airliner. The U.S. experts are working alongside NTC teams to survey and secure weapons sites previously under the control of Gadhafi's regime.
The National Transitional Council and the United Nations have called for an independent investigation into the death Thursday of the man who ruled Libya for 42 years. Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued Monday, described Gadhafi and Mutassim's deaths as "still unexplained."
Libya's chief forensic pathologist, Dr Othman el-Zentani, told CNN Tuesday that it was likely to be a week before his findings regarding the deaths of Gadhafi, his son Mutassim and Younis are submitted to the attorney general's office.
The case is complex, he said, and much work remains to be done. Having concluded the autopsy on Sunday, there are still people to be interviewed and a number of locations to be looked at before the report can be completed, he said.
The question is, if Gadhafi was captured alive, how did he end up dead?
Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's interim prime minister, has said Gadhafi's right arm was wounded when a gunbattle erupted between the anti- and pro-Gadhafi fighters as his captors attempted to load him into a vehicle.
More shooting erupted as the vehicle drove away, and Gadhafi was shot in the head, dying moments before arriving at a hospital in Misrata, Jibril said, citing the city's coroner.
In its statement, Human Rights Watch said it additionally "found the remains of at least 95 people who had apparently died that day. The vast majority had apparently died in the fighting and NATO strikes prior to Gadhafi's capture, but between six and ten of the dead appear to have been executed at the site with gunshot wounds to the head and body," the activist group said.
Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of the NATO military operation, said at a news conference Monday, "We saw a convoy, and in fact we had no idea that Gadhafi was on board." It was a surprise that Gadhafi was in the area, Bouchard said. The convoy was carrying weaponry, and seemed to present "a clear threat to the population," he said.
The human rights group also claimed Monday that the bodies of 53 people, believed to be Gadhafi supporters, had been found in an abandoned Sirte hotel that was under the control of anti-Gadhafi fighters.
"Some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot," said Peter Bouckaert, the group's emergencies director.
Based on their condition, Human Rights Watch investigators determined these people -- who were being put in body bags in preparation for burial when they were discovered -- were likely killed between October 14 and 19.
Officials with the National Transitional Council were not immediately available for comment.
A NATO official noted that Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has repeatedly applauded Libya's new leaders for saying they are committed to human rights, the rule of law and reconciliation. NATO has "no way of verifying" the Human Rights Watch report and will not comment on it specifically, the official said.
In addition, medical officials in Sirte told Human Rights Watch that they had found 23 bound bodies between October 15 and 20 that were killed by pro-Gadhafi forces.
CNN could not independently verify any of these accounts about the bodies, including their conditions, when they died and who they had supported.
The battle for the coastal city of Sirte, which was near Gadhafi's birthplace, was the final one in the months-long conflict in Libya. Aided by NATO strikes, opposition fighters first rooted in Benghazi went on to defeat Gadhafi loyalists all around the North African country.
On Sunday, three days after Gadhafi's death, Libya's interim leaders declared the nation's freedom, with Jalil urging "honesty, patience and toleration" as the nation moves toward reconciliation.
A Misrata-based group of anti-Gadhafi fighters conducted a ceremony Monday -- described by Libyan officials as the first of its kind -- in which they handed over weapons to the Interior Ministry. Besides Interior Ministry officials, U.N. representative Muin Shreim was at the event to lend his support.
"This is a good day today, and we also hope that this day is repeated again," said the unit's commander, Salem Omran. "The peace will be spread across Libya. We are looking forward to going back to our jobs.
The ceremony was largely symbolic as the number of guns returned represent a miniscule fraction of the millions available to Libyans. Many anti-Gadhafi fighters have told CNN that they're willing to turn in weapons, as long as Libya's new government lets them keep one for themselves.
