The Libyan authorities yesterday carried out the death penalty on an Egyptian convicted of murder. Sami Abd Rabbo, an Egyptian prisoner of Al-Kowaifa Prison in Benghazi, said that the prison administration has executed Samir Mokhtar, 50, by shooting him, after he was convicted of killing a Palestinian called Salama Abu Qwaida in 1992. Abd Rabbo called on the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to intervene to release 10 Egyptians that were acquitted by the Libyan judiciary but are still in custody. Mohamed Mokhtar, Samir's brother, said that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed him four days ago that the Libyan government would carry out the verdict after the victim's family refused to take blood money. Mokhtar told al-Masry al-Youm that his brother may not be buried in Cairo due to the high transport costs from Libya and the complicated procedures. He called on the Foreign Ministry to assist him in bringing the body. Ragab Said of the Department of Egyptian Expatriates said that Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Ahmed Rizq is discussing with the Libyan side the file of the Egyptians sentenced to death and is following up the release procedures of those who would pay blood money. He said that there are 31 Egyptians sentenced to death in Libya, of which 10 should have been released for having paid blood money, while another six would be executed, as the families of their victims did not accept blood money.
