By Matt Spetalnick and David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. politicians welcomed Muammar Gaddafi's death on Thursday and President Barack Obama planned to speak about the demise of Libya's autocratic ruler who was for decades regarded as a nemesis by Washington.
The reaction reflected a long, tortured history with the Libyan strongman, viewed by most Americans as a villain for his government's links to the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland and a 1986 disco bombing in Berlin that targeted U.S. troops.
Even as world leaders weighed in after Libya's interim leaders announced Gaddafi's death, the White House tread more carefully. But a White House official said Obama would provide further confirmation when he steps before the cameras at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) in the Rose Garden.
The Obama administration was likely to tout the end of Gaddafi as vindication for a cautious "leading from behind" strategy that had drawn criticism at home for casting the United States in a support role in the NATO air assault in Libya.
Relatives of American victims of the flight blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland by Libyan agents 23 years ago said justice was served with Gaddafi's death as he fled his home town and final bastion.
"I hope he's in hell with Hitler," said Kathy Tedeschi, whose first husband Bill Daniels was among the 270 people killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
POLITICIANS REACT
"The death of Muammar Gaddafi marks an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution," said Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.
"Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their country and economy," he said.
Senator Carl Levin, a senior Democrat, said, "The success of the Libyan people in rising up to overthrow a tyrant is a blow against dictatorship everywhere."
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, who once called Obama's Libya strategy "muddled," said "the world is a better place with Gaddafi gone."
"I think it's about time," Romney said after a campaign appearance in Sioux City, Iowa.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another Republican presidential contender, said "it should bring the end of conflict there, and help them move closer to elections and a real democracy."
Obama had faced criticism for an initially slow response to the Libyan uprising and then set strict limits on the U.S. role in the NATO air assault, which was officially justified as a means of stopping the massacre of civilians.
But the White House felt vindicated in its approach when rebel forces took Tripoli, and that argument was likely to be reinforced by Gaddafi's death.
Despite that, Republicans were not expected to ease their accusations that Obama has undermined U.S. global prestige with a "leading from behind" approach to "Arab spring" popular revolts that have engulfed friends and foes alike.
Levin credited Obama for a U.S. role in ousting Gaddafi. "His defeat would not have happened without the assistance of an international coalition in which U.S. leadership played an important role," he said.
U.S. officials said they were still seeking absolute confirmation of Gaddafi's death, even after Libya's new leaders said publicly he was killed by fighters who overran his home town and final bastion on Thursday. His bloodied body was stripped and displayed around the world from cell phone video.
NATO said its aircraft attacked two military vehicles near Sirte at about 0830 local time (0630 GMT) on Thursday but could not confirm that Gaddafi was a passenger.
U.S. warplanes were not involved in any air strikes in Libya at that time, a Pentagon spokesman said.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Tabassum Zakaria, John Whitesides, Michelle Nichols; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
