International pressure has mounted on the National Transitional Council of Libya to clarify how former leader Muammar Gaddafi died last week, after both the UN & US called for further investigations.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said,

“We really do need some clarity.”

"More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture."

Colville suggested that a UN panel that was set up earlier this year to investigate human rights abuses in Libya, which included the first president of the International Criminal Court Canadian judge Philippe Kirsch, may also recommend investigations.

"You can't just chuck the law out of the window."

"Killing someone outside a judicial procedure, even in countries where there is the death penalty, is outside the rule of law."

Also see Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, talking to Al Jazeera below.

His position was backed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said,

"I would strongly support both a U.N. investigation that has been called for and the investigation that the Transitional National Council said they will conduct."

"You know, I think it's important that this new government, this effort to have a democratic Libya, start with the rule of law, start with accountability".

"So I view the investigation on its own merits as important but also as part of a process that will give Libya the best possible chance to navigate toward a stable, secure, democratic future."