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TORONTO — The son of a former Ottawa cleric who encouraged Libyans to “take part in jihad” was reportedly killed in an armed clash with government forces in Benghazi over the weekend.

The death of Owais Egwilla, described as a former Ottawa university student, was announced on social media accounts affiliated with Libyan fighters, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

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The posts said he had died in a battle against the “infidel forces” of Libyan Gen. Khalida Haftar. The Libya Observer reported Egwilla was a member of a militia called the Omar Al-Mukhtar Brigade.

“It is one of the extremist groups,” Ambassador Fathi Baja, Libya’s envoy to Canada, said Sunday. He said the youth’s father was Abdu Albasset Egwilla, a Libyan-Canadian religious cleric.

His father took him to Libya. In fact his father pushed him

“His father took him to Libya. In fact his father pushed him,” the diplomat said in an interview. He said the cleric had used his pulpit to encourage youths to take up arms in Libya and elsewhere.