By Noora Ibrahim and Moutaz Ahmed.
Benghazi, 9 July 2014:
Angry residents on Benghazi’s Istiqlal Street (former Gamal Abdul Nasser Street) have blocked it following the murder early this morning of Khalifa Hamed Al-Maghrabi, a well-respected former revolutionary locally known as “Chico”.
He had just driven a friend home in Sidi Hussein and was heading to his own house, a member of Saiqa forces told the Libya Herald, when a white Chevrolet pulled up and someone in the car sprayed him with bullets. The friend rushed out and found him in a pool of blood.
Maghrabi had returned to civilian life but was a political activist who helped organise street protests as well as speaking on TV about Benghazi’s problems. He was also a prominent fan of Benghazi’s Al-Nasr football club, which is located on Istiqlal Street.
The violence continued this morning with explosions that kept many residents in the city awake.
A missile hit Benghazi TV offices in the city’s Topolino district causing some damage but no injuries. Another missile hit the home in the same district of a doctor named as Mohamed Ben Sarabti. According to a friend of his, his home had been the only place he felt safe in the city.
Local residents are blaming Ansar Al-Sharia for the attacks.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Hejazi, the spokesman for the Operation Dignity forces, has confirmed that four Yemenis and a Libyan have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to Al-Qaeda. They had been monitored for two weeks while staying at a hotel in Sabri district, he said.