Officials in Libya have reported the body of ex-Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi has been buried. Officials say they intend to keep the desert location secret to prevent it from becoming a shrine and to stop it from being vandalized.

 Gaddafi Dead: Dictator Buried in Secret Location in Open Desert

Those in attendance at the burial have been sworn to secrecy.

NTC military council official spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal confirmed those in attendance were reportedly two cousins, who were former leaders in the Gaddafi regime, and another Gadaffi military officer.

According to reports, prayers were read over the bodies during the ceremony, which was promised to be “simple” with “sheikhs attending,” according an NTC official.

According to Islamic law, observers' bodies are to be buried within 24 hours, though it had been nearly a week after the slain dictator's death. Nonetheless the burial could not be put off because, as officials said, with decomposition the “corpse cannot last any longer.”

The identities of the bodies of Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and army commander Abu Bakr Younis were previously confirmed over the weekend.

The press release was sent from Misrata, Libya 5:00 a.m. local time.

The exact circumstances of Gadaffi's death are still not clear, but a video reportedly shows him being tortured, and sodomized prior to his death.