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Saturday, Jan 12, 2013 9:45 PM UTC

Italy consul in Benghazi fired on, not injured

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Topics: From the Wires,

ROME (AP) — Militants opened fire on the car of the Italian consul in the Libyan city of Benghazi, but he wasn’t injured, officials in Rome and Libya said Saturday.

A security detail traveling with Consul Guido De Sanctis returned fire, but the gunmen who were driving in a car alongside De Sanctis’ convoy sped away, a Libyan security official said. The shooting occurred in the evening as De Sanctis was leaving the consulate.

A government official in Rome said De Sanctis wasn’t hurt because he was travelling in an armored car. Video footage shown on Sky TG24 showed several gunshots to the windows of the vehicle.

The officials insisted on not being identified because they weren’t authorized to make the information public. The ANSA news agency said it spoke to De Sanctis, who confirmed he was fine.

Benghazi was the site of a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

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Esam Mohamed contributed to this report from Tripoli, Libya.

By Nicole Winfield

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