Libyan authorities have found the body of an outspoken journalist 12 days after he went missing and are investigating his killing, a senior government official said on Monday. Daif al Ghazal, 31, was reported missing on May 22 and found dead last Thursday near the eastern city of Benghazi, the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "We found the body of Daif al Ghazal in bad shape. He apreared to have been killed in a criminal act. The authorities are investigating the case and will announce the result of their work as soon as they complete it," he said.Arab media, including the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television website, quoted opponents of the Libyan government and rights activists abroad as accusing government supporters of kidnapping and torturing journalist Daif al Ghazal before shooting him dead. The official declined to comment on who might have killed Ghazal, who was a member of the pro-government Revolutionary Committees, Libya's de facto ruling party. He was widely known for his often critical writings in the Committees' mouthpiece, the newspaper Azaahf al Akdar.
The Libyan Araguib (Watchdog), a human rights group based abroad, said in a statement "Ghazal was badly tortured, his fingers were cut and he was stabbed with a knife before he was shot dead." It said it suspected hardliners among the Revolutionary Committees were behind the murder of Ghazal, who had recently published articles accusing the Libyan authorities of "widespread corruption".