By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 26 October 2015:
Benghazi militant Islamist commander Wissam Ben Hamid has been accused of planning the murders of a . . .[restrict]Libyan National Army (LNA) tank commander Mahdi Al-Barghathi and the head of military intelligence unit in the city, Salah Bughaib
A video has been published on social media of phone calls allegedly between him and a man called Marwan Al-Saaiti in which Saaiti is offered LD 400,000 to act as the assassin using a bomb left at a particular location. However, in what was a sting operation, Saaiti worked with Barghathi, keeping him informed of the plot.
Ben Hamid, the head of Libya Shield No. 1 and a major figure in the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council, was accused two years ago of the murder of Colonel Ahmed Mustafa Al-Barghathi, the head of the military police in Benghazi and his home in Benghazi’s Kuwafiyah suburb was torched by members of the Barghathi tribe as a result.
He denied the accusation but on television threatened revenge for the attack on his home.
A fortnight ago, he said his forces would continue shelling Benina airbase so long as it was used by the Libyan air force to bomb targets in Benghazi – a threat he appears to have carried out. Intermittent shelling of the airbase has not stopped. [/restrict]
