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Libyans destroy a statue of Egyptian former president Jamal Abdul Nasser in Benghazi. Image Credit: Youtube.com

Manama: Libyan rebels toppled a large statue of Egyptian former president Jamal Abdul Nasser in Benghazi.

The statue was erected by former leader Muammar Gaddafi as a tribute to the man seen as a potent symbol of Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gaddafi repeatedly said that Nasser was his guide in his attempts to unite Arab countries.

The street, one of the busiest in the city and known until Saturday as Jamal Abdul Nasser Street, was renamed after Abdul Fattah Younis, a senior military officer who was Gaddafi's interior minister before defecting in February to the rebels.

He was reported killed in July in unclear circumstances. No reason was given for the decision to topple the statue.