Former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem died by drowning, according to preliminary post-mortem results in Austria.

Mr Ghanem’s body was found in the River Danube in Vienna on Sunday.

A police spokesman, Roland Hahslinger, said there appeared to be no outside involvement and there were no indications to suggest suicide.

Shukri Ghanem, 69, defected from Libya during the uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi last year.

At the time he said the situation had become “unbearable”, making his position untenable.

Mr Ghanem served as Libya’s prime minister from 2003 to 2006 and then as oil minister until 2011.

He was considered to be one of Gaddafi’s inner circle before he defected in June.