Reply #67: Human Rights Watch also cites him as a source, but it looks like everything traces back to him

[PurityOfEssence]

This is from Human Rights Watch, June 27, 2006:

The Libyan government has denied that any crimes took place. In May 2005, Internal Security Agency head Khaled told Human Rights Watch that prisoners had captured some guards during a meal and taken weapons from the prison cache. Prisoners and guards died as security personnel tried to restore order, he said, and the government had opened an investigation on order of the Secretary of Justice.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/06/27/libya-june-1996-killings-abu-salim-prison

I may very well be wrong about the number of guards; it may be as few as one, the guard named Omar. To date, there has been no comment from anyone else I can find about other guard deaths. The story was reported very widely, by Reuters, China Times, etc., but upon inspection, they all trace back to the same Mohammed Bashir al-Khaled.

Still, though, the prisoners rioted and took at least two hostages, prompting an incident. Even if it was ruthlessly crushed, it was still prompted by something. Prison revolts don't get treated well anywhere, especially when some of them are religious terrorists whose organization was just recently on a very dangerous killing bent, including an assassination attempt on the nation's leader.

I should have researched the sources better, and I apologize for the carelessness, but the rest of the contention still stands: ALL accounts state that it started as a prisoner riot, and that the prisoners took hostages, so it's not completely unprovoked.