Vote counting is underway after a Libyan general election marred by the murder of a leading women's rights activist and poor turnout, yet applauded by Barack Obama as a democratic milestone.
The first results were expected as early as late Thursday from an election the authorities hope will pave a way out of the turmoil that has gripped the country since the 2011 ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Masked men broke into the home of liberal activist Salwa Bugaighis in Benghazi, an Islamist bastion, just hours after polls closed on Wednesday evening in an attack that drew international condemnation.
"Mrs Bugaighis was stabbed in several parts of her body, but the cause of death was a bullet wound to the head," said a spokesman for the Benghazi Medical Centre.
US Ambassador Deborah Jones called the killing "heartbreaking" on Twitter, denouncing "a cowardly, despicable, shameful act against a courageous woman and true Libyan patriot".
British Ambassador Michael Aron echoed the condemnation of the killing of Bugaighis, a lawyer and a feminist who served on the National Transitional Council, the political wing of the rebellion.
"Devastated about horrific murder of Salwa Bugaighis. Leadinglight of #17FebRevolution & human rights champion. Sad day for #Libya," he tweeted.
The murder was also condemned by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and by Amnesty International, which called for a swift investigation.
Seven soldiers who had been deployed to provide polling day security in Benghazi were also killed, and 53 wounded, in what security officials said was an attack on their convoy by Islamist militia.
Just 42 per cent of the 1.5 million registered voters turned out on Wednesday, according to the electoral commission's preliminary estimates.
Despite the poor turnout and the violence, US President Obama congratulated Libyans on "a milestone in their courageous efforts to transition from four decades of dictatorship toward a full democracy".
Benghazi was the birthplace of the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Gaddafi and has become a stronghold of Islamist militia.
