It is very, very dangerous being ambassadorial these days. Probably more so if you were ever one of Muammar Gaddafi’s diplomats. Libya’s former ambassador to France, Omar Brebesh, died during detention by armed militia in Tripoli – and judging from the autopsy, it was not a merciful killing.

The body of Brebesh, 62, appeared in hospital the day after he was detained in January, some 100km from where he was captured. In addition to clearly having suffered multiple injuries and fractured ribs before being killed, his toenails had been removed by his torturers.

The suspected torturers of Brebesh are part of a militia group called al-Shohada Ashura.

Incidentally, humanitarian doctors Médecins Sans Frontières have halted work in detention centres in one Libyan city because its medical staff were constantly being asked to attend to detainees halfway through torture sessions, patching them up before being sent back for more abuse by their torturers.  Not fun working conditions.