New Benghazi police chief appointed just hours after rejection of previous nominee

By Maha Ellawati.

Benghazi, 23 November:

Colonel Mustafa Mohammed Raqiq has been appointed head of Benghazi’s security directorate following the assassination of Colonel Faraj Drissi on Wednesday.

“Yes, I was officially assigned to the post”, Raqiq said when contacted by the Libya Herald to confirm the news.

Rumours of Raqiq’s appointment came a matter of hours after Benghazi’s police force strongly rejected the nomination of Colonel Saleheddin Daghman as their new chief.

Daghman, who has not served as a policeman himself, was previously rejected by the police in the aftermath of the killing of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens on 11 September, after the government attempted to place him in charge of security in the eastern region.

Colonel Raqiq, who is in his forties, was one of the earliest defectors from the regime at the start of last year’s revolution, and previously served as head of Hadaeq police station.

So far, there have been no public objections to Raqiq’s appointment from the Benghazi police service.

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