Shaaban Youssef, a lawyer, on Monday filed a complaint with the military intelligence of the Red Sea, claiming that more than 250 Egyptians were abducted in Tobruk, Libya a few days ago.
He said he had reported the incident to Badra Abdel Atti, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, and Abdallah al-Ashiry, the assistant minister for consular affairs, asking to release his brother and cousins, as well as the rest of the abductees.
He also said that his brother Mamdouh called him and said he was abducted with 250 others on Wednesday by kidnappers wearing military uniforms printed with ‘Libya’s Rebels.’
His brother called him again on Friday to say he and the others are detained in the Beida prison without water or food.
The Libyan government has struggled to maintain order since the revolution, ousting former President Muammar Gaddafi. Libyan society is fragmented into tribal groups, many of which fought to overthrow the government and now want a larger stake in the new government, refusing to put down their weapons.
The motives behind the kidnapping of Egyptians remain unclear.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
