Libyan General National Congress (GNC) President Mohamed Magarief evaded assassination Saturday (January 5th) in Sabha, Al-Arabiya reported. Several bodyguards suffered injuries during a three-hour gunfight at Magarief's hotel.

In other news Saturday, the body of an officer from Benghazi's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was found in the Sidi Faraj area of the city, Libya Herald reported. Lieutenant-Colonel Nasser Al-Moghrabi was killed execution-style by a single gunshot to the head.

Under the former regime, the slain officer worked for Moamer Kadhafi's reviled internal security services in Benghazi.

Moghrabi's murder comes three days after masked gunman abducted CID head Abdulsalam al-Mihdawi in the al-Hawari neighbourhood of Benghazi.