Sunday, January 05, 2014

British National Shot Dead in Libya Named

British man shot dead in Libya named

A British man who was shot dead in Libya has been named by the Foreign Office
British man shot dead in Libya named
Mark De Salis, an employee of 1st Engineering, was working as a power manager bringing electrical generators to Tripoli

By Nav Pall11:49AM GMT 04 Jan 2014

The Briton shot dead in Libya has been named as Mark De Salis, an energy industry engineer who had worked in Tripoli for six years.

Mr De Salis was gunned down alongside a female friend from New Zealand near the coastal town of Mellitah, where their bodies were left lying face down on the sand.

Mr De Salis’ family said they were “shocked and devastated” by the discovery on Thursday of his body.

The pair were thought to have been having a picnic when they were ambushed and shot in the head.

Mr De Salis, 48, who worked for First Engineering, was employed as a power manager bringing electrical generators to the Libyan capital.

The family said that he “liked the Libyan people” and remembered him as a “decent and incredibly loyal man and he was loved by many”.

They said he had been with “a close friend from New Zealand who was also killed and our thoughts are with her family at this sad time”.

The woman, who was visiting Libya, worked for oil giant Blue Energy based in Australia. The woman’s family have asked for privacy, but confirm that she resided in New Zealand.

Westerners have been warned about the increasingly unstable situation in Libya where an American teacher was shot dead while jogging just four weeks ago.

A week ago, four American military personnel were briefly detained not far from the same area of Mellitah, which is home to to a large oil and gas complex co-owned by Italian company ENI.

Nearly two years after the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the north African country has descended into a state of lawlessness as rival militias struggle for power and wealth.

Libyan police said that a probe had been launched into the deaths, but that there still were no leads as to who the killers were or their motive.

The Foreign Office advises against all travel to most parts of Libya, including Benghazi, and against all but essential travel to coastal areas to the west and east, including Tripoli.

It warns of a “high threat from terrorism including kidnapping” in the country.

Foreign Office officials have already urged the Libyan Government to hold a “thorough investigation” in to the murders.

A spokesman said: “We call upon the Libyan Government to carry out a thorough investigation into this tragic incident and to continue to do all it can to bring to justice the perpetrators of this appalling crime, as it strives to build strong rule of law in Libya.”

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