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his crime” under questioning, the ministry said, without revealing his identity.

“Just after the tragic attack of May 2020, I ordered the local authorities in Mezdah to issue arrest warrants against those responsible for the murders,” Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha told AFP.

“The arrest of the main suspect is a major victory,” he said, calling it “proof” that such crimes could not be committed with impunity in Libya.

The affair had caused outrage in Bangladesh, which demanded Libyan authorities investigate the murders, bring the perpetrators to account and compensate relatives.

A Bangladeshi accused of heading a trafficking ring with “links to international traffickers implicated in this incident” was arrested in Dhaka in June last year.

The episode highlighted the trafficking of young people from Bangladesh, via Libya and onwards on death-defying boat journeys towards Europe.

Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis have attempted to cross the Mediterranean in recent years, giving Libyan smugglers a large market for extortion.

Years of chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of dictator Moamer Gaddafi have made Libya a key launchpad for migrants from Asia, East Africa and the Sahel seeking to reach Europe.