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Tripoli, 21 March 2013:
The head of the SSC in Misrata, Juma Belhaj, has announced that the identities of those involved in . . .[restrict]a number of killings that shocked the city and the attack on its Coptic church were now known.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Thursday, he said that investigators had managed to find out the identities of those who in late January had assassinated Misrata Local Council member Sheikh Mohamed Ben Othman. They had also discovered who had been involved in the the assassination of Sheikh Fakhri Husein Jahani earlier the same month and of two security officers, Walid Shahoot and Wahib Kareem, a few days before that. They also claimed to know who was involved in the bombing of the Coptic church in Misrata in December.
According to Belhaj, the investigations into the case of Ben Othman’s assassination had enabled investigators to discover the identities of the perpetrators of all these crimes. Six people in total were involved, he said. Three had been involved in the assassination of Ben Othman.
He did not disclose any identities.
The motive for the bombing of the church in Misrata was purely financial with no other motives, Belhaj claimed. He did not explain the reasoning for the allegation. He claimed there was also as a direct link between those involved in the church bombing and the killing of the two security guards and the assassination of Sheikh Jahan. Again, he did not explain.
The investigation was now closed, he said, and the files transferred along with all the evidence to the local prosecution office. [/restrict]
