BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) — Police officials said Thursday that they were searching for the chief of Benghazi’s criminal investigations unit, who was seized by armed men the night before.
The chief, Capt. Abdel-Salam al-Mahdawi, had been ready to identify suspects in the death of a former police chief, officials said. He was taken by force “under the threat of weapons from a location close to the criminal investigation police offices,” said one police official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.
The former police chief, Faraj al-Deirsy, was shot to death in front of his home in November, according to the police and Interior Ministry officials.
Benghazi, the cradle of an armed uprising that led to the end of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s rule in Libya, has been plagued by poor security and the assassination of police and military officers by militias. The United States ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi in September.
A body charred by hydrochloric acid was found in the city’s Buhmeida district, Chief Mustafa al-Regayig of the Benghazi police told state radio. It has not been identified yet, he said.
“We can’t confirm or deny that the body is of Captain Mahdawi at this time,” he said.
Police investigators and legal experts have avoided taking on that case because they say they have not been guaranteed protection from groups they believe carried out the attack.
Police Captain in Benghazi Is Abducted
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Police Captain in Benghazi Is Abducted
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Police Captain in Benghazi Is Abducted
