Libya's transitional government has declared national liberation before a jubilant crowd in Benghazi, where the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi began, BBC reports.

National Transitional Council (NTC) leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil urged Libyans to put civil conflict behind them for the sake of the country.

Jalil said the new Libya would take Islamic law as its foundation.

Gaddafi's capture and death came as Nato-backed NTC forces pursued loyalists in his stronghold, Sirte. The NTC has come under pressure to investigate how he died. A post-mortem carried out on the former leader's body on Sunday, October 23, showed he had received a bullet wound to the head, medical sources said. The body itself, along with that of Gaddafi's son Mutassim, has been put on public display in a cold storage facility in Misrata.

NTC deputy head Abdul Hafez Ghoga announced from the stage that Libya had been freed, declaring: "Declaration of Liberation. Raise your head high. You are a free Libyan."