Benghazi, 7 January 2013:
A man has been killed as he apparently tried to plant a bomb in a car of a prominent Islamist in Benghazi. The incident happend in the city’s Al-Laithi district.
The dead man, named as Khaled Al-Madkour, was the brother of Major Nasser Al-Sharef Al-Madkour Al-Obeidi, one of the officers murdered along with General Abdel Fattah Younes in July 2011. The car belongs to Ahmed Bukatela head of the Abi Obeida Bin Jarrah Brigade which has been accused of being involved in the killing, although Bukatela has denied any involvement.
Speaking over the phone to the Libya TV station today, Bukatela’s brother, Abu Bakr Bukattala, said that he had been awoken at 2 am by the sound of a huge explosion.
He said: “We went outside to see what was happening. It became clear to us that there had been an attempt to assassinate my brother Ahmed Bukatela, and we found two individuals who had tried to plant the bomb in the car of my brother.”
Abu Bakr Bukatela said that one of the men they found was badly injured and was taken to hospital where he died, while the second fled the scene.
When Bukatela inspected the car they found at the scene, they discovered that it belonged to Hassan Al-Sharef Al-Madkour, he said, and that the man who had been killed was his brother Khaled.
Abu Bakr said: “We realized they were the brothers of Major Nasser Al-Madkour. If they have a problem with my brother, let them take it to the courts, and not in this way. This is his family home, where children and women live, not just Ahmed”.
Another car was damaged in the explosion. It has been reported that the second man in the planned attack was injured but there has been no confirmation. [/restrict]
