A UN official has warned against the killing of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, urging the Libyan rebels and the likely bounty hunters for his head to capture him and send him to the International Criminal Court.

"Assassination is not within the rule of law. If he can be captured alive and the arrest warrants carried through, obviously that's the best solution," Rupert Colville, a UN human rights spokesman in Geneva said Friday, referring to the hunt for Gaddafi, as cited by Al Jazeera.

"The rule of law is essential. That applies to Gaddafi as well as everybody else... summary execution is not permissible in peace time or in war time," Colville stressed.

He further said the UN had so far been unable to verify casualty figures and reports of abuses by both rebels and Gaddafi loyalists in Libya, as the six-month civil war continues to rage in the North African country.

The UN warning comes in the wake of an announcement earlier this week by the Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council that Libyan businessmen have provided the money for a promised USD 1.7 M (EUR 1.2 M) for Muammar Gaddafi's head, dead or alive.

If arrested alive, Gaddafi is likely to be brought before the International Criminal Court in the Hague. This scenario, however, is uncertain since rebel government officials have indicated they might want to put him on trial in Libya.

The dictator's whereabouts remain unknown, with guesses ranging from some districts of Tripoli to the Libyan desert and border regions, all the way to his hometown Sirte.

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