BENGHAZI, Libya – The military governor of Libya's restive Benghazi on Monday escaped an assassination attempt that killed a member of his entourage and seriously wounded another as Libya's deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Nuh was freed by his abductors on Monday a day after they seized him near Tripoli airport. “The motorcade of Colonel Abdallah Al-Saati, head of the joint security room and military governor of Benghazi, was attacked as he passed through the Al-Hadeq area, leaving one dead and one seriously wounded from his entourage,” said security forces spokesman Colonel Abdallah Al-Zaidi. Benghazi's joint security room is a body grouping together all the different security bodies operating in the eastern city. “Explosives experts are currently combing the neighbourhood to determine how the convoy was attacked and the amount of explosives used in this blast, which was heard in most areas of the city,” said Zaidi. Nearby cars were badly damaged by the blast, he added. Meanwhile, a source in the intelligence services said Libya's deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Nuh was freed today, without giving further details. On Sunday, private television channel Al-Naba had quoted a witness who escaped the abduction as describing the incident. Former rebel commander Ala Abu Hafess told Al-Naba he was in a car with Nuh when they were ambushed as they left the airport. Gunmen forced them out of their car and into another vehicle, Abu Hafess said, adding that he was able to flee by jumping out of the car. “I ran. They opened fire at me but didn't hit me,” he said. The abduction of the deputy intelligence chief, who is originally from the western coastal city of Misrata, came amid high tensions between armed groups from his hometown and rival groups in Tripoli. More than 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since Friday when residents of the capital rose up against the continued presence in the city of a Misrata militia. Eastern Libya, and particularly the city of Benghazi, has been hit by a wave of attacks mostly targeting security officials since the fall of longterm dictator Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. Bombings and shootings in the region have killed more than 100 army and police officers and judge. – Agencies
