The 69-year-old’s body was found in the Danube River, a Vienna police spokesman said.
Austrian police say the body showed no external signs of violence. The cause of death was not immediately clear, and an autopsy will be performed to determine the source of his death.
“He was found dead in the Danube River at 8:40 a.m. (0640 GMT). There is no suspicion at all of foul play at this stage. The corpse exhibited no signs of violence,” a Vienna police spokesman said.
Ghanem had been chairman of Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), and had previously been Libya’s minister of petroleum and prime minister.
Last year, he defected when Libyans rebelled against Gaddafi’s dictatorship. He left Libya in June 2011 as the revolution was raging in the country.
Ghanem later announced that he would support revolutionaries fighting the Gaddafi regime forces.
GJH/MF/HJL