Egypt’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ahmed Abu Zeid, in an interview with “Kalam Tani” TV program on “Dream” channel on Wednesday, commented on parliamentarian Tarek el-Kholi’s briefing request on the kidnapping three Egyptian workers in Libya.
Abu Zaid denied that the three Egyptians had been kidnapped and instead claimed that the Libyan authorities arrest many Egyptians due to irregular immigration, or because they work illegally or stay without residence permits.
Abu Zaid added that the Embassy of Libya in Egypt will check on the identity of the three workers as well as the source who informed them of the missing Egyptians. He asked people who are involved in the case to deliver information to the consular section in the Egyptian MOFA.
The four workers disappeared in Tajura area, Tripoli, where Libyan authorities arrested six Egyptians because they tried to migrate to Europe through Libya without permission.
Egyptians in Libya have been abducted frequently by armed militia since the toppling of Muammar Qadhafi in 2011. Six Copts were killed by militia in February 2014, and a gunman shot dead on Wednesday Egyptian worker Abdallah al-Shweihi, 28, and injured six others in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
Edited Translation from al-Masry al-Youm
