Former Libyan rebel stabbed multiple times in downtown Ottawa
A 28-year-old man was taken to hospital in critical condition after being stabbed multiple times in the chest early Wednesday morning.
The altercation happened outside the front door of the Embassy Hotel & Suites at 25 Cartier St., near City Hall in downtown Ottawa, at about 1:20 a.m.
When paramedics arrived they found a man in critical condition with multiple stab wounds. He was treated on scene before being transported to The Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus trauma unit.
The victim is now in stable condition, police said later Wednesday.
Another man, 21 years old, was arrested in the area shortly after the incident and charges against him are pending. Police said they could include aggravated assault and attempted murder.
The Ottawa police major crimes unit is investigating.
Friend says victim lost legs in Libyan Civil War
At the scene on Wednesday morning, a motorized scooter was wrapped in a yellow tarp and two prosthetic limbs were lying on the ground nearby.
A man, who identified himself as a close friend of the victim, told CBC News the victim lost both of his legs in the 2011 Libyan Civil War, and that the victim came to Canada eight or nine months ago for medical treatments. OsamaAlakouky, the victim's friend, also lost an arm in the conflict.
Alakouky said the victim's family called him from Libya early Wednesday morning to say that something was wrong.
"I immediately came here and I don't understand anything. Police [are here], his [prosthetic] legs, blood," Alakouky said. "I don't know what's happened. I don't understand anything."
The Canadian Libyan Council told CBC News that it's hearing both the suspect and the victim are former Libyan rebels.
They said dozens of rebels came to Canada for medical treatment after Muammar Gaddafi's regime fell in 2012, with many living in Toronto but some coming to Ottawa in recent weeks to be closer to the embassy.
The Canadian Embassy in Libya suspended operations on Tuesday as the heaviest fighting since the revolution breaks out.
