Missing Algerian MP found murdered

An autopsy is being carried out

The decomposing body of a missing Algerian MP has been found in the boot of his car in Paris.

Abdelmalek Benbara, a member of the prime minister's party, had been missing for nearly three weeks when his body was discovered on Wednesday, police sources said.

He was taken to a Paris morgue, where an autopsy was to be carried out on Thursday.

The politician's ankles had been bound together.

Mr Benbara "appeared to have died on the day of his disappearance", a police source said.

He was reported missing on 9 January after he failed to meet an appointment in Paris with a friend.

His car was found to be unlocked. Police discovered Mr Benbara's identity papers among his belongings.

Mr Benbara, of the National Liberation Front, was elected to Algeria's National Assembly last May.

He was one of two deputies who represented Algerians living in France.

He had a home in Paris, as well as a home in the central French town of Saint-Chamond.

Police had been investigating the possibility that Mr Benbara had been abducted.

They have questioned his wife, and the friend he was supposed to be meeting, in connection with the case.