Former Libyan security official assassinated

A former employee in the Internal Security Service, Abdul Hameed Ali Kaduz, was assassinated Thursday in Benghazi, east Libya, following the explosion of a bomb planted under his car seat. The bomb exploded after Kaduz, who resigned from his post three years ago, finished his noon prayers and exited the Ansar mosque. The explosion sound shook the surrounding area, causing panic and fear among residents, wile damaging nearby vehicles. A security source, Mohammed Radwan, told Arabstoday that an official investigation had already begun, and that this was the twelfth attack on security officials who served under slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi. "Such operations are frequent in Benghazi and Derna (300km east of Benghazi)...I clal on the authorities to preserve the lives of these officials because not all of them are guilty of torture, if that is what is behind the assassination attempts," said Radwan. The spokesperson for the National Security Directorate in Benghazi, Magdi Aorafy, said that the bomb was triggered by Kaduz turning the key in the car's ignition. He was declared dead at the Benghazi Medical Centre. Aorafy said they had enough evidence to warrant a formal investigation, while saying Benghazi, the hub of the pro-democracy revolution that ousted Gaddafi, was the only Libyan cities beset by these problems. The security spokesperson said Interior Minister Fawzi Abdel-Aala and Defence Minister Osama Ajwaili were responsible for the attacks getting so frequent, calling for the formation of a special force to combat the groups behing the attakcs "lest Libya turn into Iraq".