It's confirmed now...

The bodies of ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide have been buried in secret in the desert, Libyan officials said. A National Transitional Council (NTC) official told the BBC the bodies were buried at dawn in an unknown location.

This follows days of apparent uncertainty among the new leadership about what to do with the bodies. Gaddafi's family wanted the bodies to be buried outside the former leader's hometown of Sirte. But officials from the NTC had expressed a preference for a secret burial.

'Unknown location' The NTC's Guma Al Gamaty confirmed the burial to the BBC. The Associated Press earlier reported that it received confirmation in a text from a military council official in Misrata that the burial took place at a secret location at 05:00 local time.

A few relatives and officials were in attendance as Islamic prayers were read over the bodies, spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal is quoted as saying.

An NTC official had earlier told Reuters news agency that Col Gaddafi would be buried in a "simple" ceremony with "sheikhs attending" on Tuesday.