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By Maha Ellawati and Nigel Ash
Benghazi, 24 May:
A young Benghazi man has handed himself in and reportedly confessed to murdering three . . .[restrict]members of his family in a hail of machine gun fire.
Police believe that Mustafa Mohammed Al Salhany may have killed his father, mother and sister because he was under the influence of drugs. They say that when he gave himself up to the Supreme Security Committee of Benghazi, he was in an agitated and hysterical state.
The killings took place at the family home in Al Majory on Friday and al Salhany handed himself on Sunday. The victims, who died when dozens of bullets were fired at them, were his father Mohammed Al Salhany and mother Khiria Al Shekhi as well as a sister, whom police have not yet named.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Waleed al Birnawi told Libya Herald that Salhany had gone to a building in the Laithi area to surrender, thinking it was still occupied by the Zintan Martyrs Battalion. In fact it is now used by the police, who detained him.
Birnawi said that neighbours reported that Salhany had been in a disturbed state at the time of the murders. He added that the use of hallucinatory drugs has become widespread in Benghazi.
The motive for the crime is not yet clear, though Birnawi suggested that the young man may have been involved himself in drug dealing. It is not yet known where he obtained the murder weapon nor whether he has served in any thuwar unit. Salhany is currently undergoing psychological evaluation. He reportedly told police that the only place he feels safe in Benghazi is with Supreme Security Commission.
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