George Grant LONDON — The Libyan revolutionary said to have been the first to discover Muammar Gaddafi last year died Tuesday at the American Hospital in Paris. Omran Shaban claimed to have discovered the former dictator on Oct. 20, 2011 hiding in a drainage pipe in his hometown of Sirte. Shaban, who hailed from Misrata, was himself critically injured earlier this year after he was captured in the former pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid. Together with a colleague, Shaban had been dispatched to the western hill-town on July 12 on as part of the Libya Shield brigade, following the capture of two prominent Misratan journalists there four days earlier. Said to have been shot in the neck, Shaban is believed to have been severely tortured over the course of a two-month custody in Bani Walid, purportedly on account of his role in Gaddafi's capture. Following his release on Sept. 13, doctors from Misrata said that he had received a bullet to the spine and was in a state of complete paralysis. He was subsequently transferred to Paris where he succumbed to his injuries. Reacting to the news of his death, National Congress President Mohamed Magarief described Shaban as a “martyr”, and pledged to find and prosecute those responsible for his treatment whilst in Bani Walid. Magarief had himself led the negotiations which led to Shaban's eventual release. “I received with great sadness the news of the death of Omran Shaban”, Magarief said. “He was a martyr who suffered from kidnapping and torture which led, in the end, to his death. “This is a punishable crime for which the perpetrators must be found and prosecuted.” — Libya Herald
