News in Brief

Kikhia’s body found: Leading Libyan dissident Mansour al-Kikhia, who disappeared 19 years ago under the Gaddafi regime, will be buried on Monday weeks after his body was found in an intelligence services morgue, his brother said.

Libya’s new authorities, meanwhile, held Sunday a funeral ceremony to pay tribute to Kikhia, the foreign ministry said.

Kikhia will be buried in his native city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that ousted last year now slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, said the dissident’s brother Mahmud al-Kikhia.

Kikhia was “abducted in Cairo in 1993 by the former regime,” and his body was discovered in mid-October in a morgue inside a Tripoli villa that once served as a headquarters for Gaddafi’s infamous intelligence services, he said.

Mahmud added that DNA analysis of Kikhia’s body matched those of his brothers and sons, and that ex-Gaddafi intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, who is currently imprisoned by the country’s new authorities, acknowledged the dissident’s abduction and indicated the location of the body.

On the eve of his burial, Libya’s top brass attended a funeral ceremony to pay tribute to Kikhia. (AFP) Gunmen kill Iraqis: Iraqi authorities say gunmen broke into the house of an anti-al-Qaeda militiaman north of Baghdad and killed him and his two sons.

Apolice officer says the killings took place early Sunday when gunmen, armed with pistols fitted with silencers, rushed into the house near the city of Samarra, 95 kms (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

Ahealth official confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

The pro-government group known as Sahwa, of which the man was a member, joined forces with US troops at the height of the Iraq war to fight al-Qaeda. Ever since then, it has been a target for Sunni insurgents who call its members traitors. (AP)