Cousin Tried to Kill Kadafi, Diplomats Say

TRIPOLI, Libya — A cousin of Col. Moammar Kadafi, unhappy about the country’s economic problems, tried to kill the Libyan leader two months ago but was gunned down in Kadafi’s barracks, Western diplomats said Tuesday.

Col. Hassan Eshkal, the governor of Surt province, was slain last Nov. 23 in a hail of bullets, some of which might have been fired by Kadafi himself, the diplomats said.

The assassination attempt reflected the growing dissatisfaction within the armed forces over Kadafi’s economic policies and his failure to mold Libya’s diverse tribes into a unified nation, the diplomats said.

Eshkal’s death was officially attributed to a car accident. But diplomats quoted hospital sources as saying he was taken to a clinic with six bullet wounds.