(Gaddafi defector) Former Libyan oil minister found dead in Vienna

[alp227]

Last edited Mon Apr 30, 2012, 02:15 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: CBC

Shukri Ghanem, a former Libyan prime minister and oil minister who last year announced he was abandoning Moammar Gadhafi's regime to support the rebels who ultimately toppled the dictator, has been found dead in a section of the Danube River flowing through Vienna, Austrian police say.

Police spokesman Roman Hahslinger said the 69-year-old's corpse was found floating in the river early in the morning Sunday. The body showed no external signs of violence, but the cause of death was not immediately clear and an autopsy will be carried out, Hahslinger said.

"There would be no signs of violence if someone pushed him in," Hahslinger said. "But it's also possible that he became ill and fell into the water."

An Austrian foreign ministry official said family members initially told the ministry that Ghanem had died of a heart attack, adding that their version appeared to be plausible. He demanded anonymity because his ministry was not in charge of investigations.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/04/30/libya-ex-oil-minister-dead.html

[jberryhill]

1. Prepping for the spring Danube Swim, no doubt

Yep, the shock of the cold water this time of year can do that to your heart.

Surprising to find out the guy was such an avid swimmer, though.

[jakeXT]

2. It was a side channel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Danube

His family claimed first he was found in his home.

[jberryhill]

3. Well, there's a couple channels and an island

...where the Danube flows through Vienna. My mother grew up on a tributary of the Danube south of Melk.

Gorgeous country and a lot of cold water swimmers.

What a blow to the family to find out they were confused about where they found him, eh? In their grief stricken state, they obviously must have forgotten where they found him.

On edit: It is tragic that the guy died at home in a flood.

[Eugene]

4. Gaddafi-era Libyan oil chief drowned: Vienna police

Source: Reuters

Gaddafi-era Libyan oil chief drowned: Vienna police

By Michael Shields

VIENNA | Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:07pm EDT

(Reuters) - Libya's former prime minister and oil minister Shokri Ghanem, a prominent defector from Muammar Gaddafi's government, drowned in the River Danube, Vienna police said on Monday and a Libyan security source suggested he could have been murdered.

Ghanem's fully-clothed body was found in the Danube in Vienna on Sunday, a few hundred meters from his home. According to a preliminary autopsy there were no indications of foul play or suicide, spokesman Roman Hahslinger told reporters.

A Libyan security source said they were investigating the death and believed he could have been pushed into the Danube by former Gaddafi agents.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-libya-ghanem-idUSBRE83T0SJ20120430