Egypt Watch

35 Egyptians kidnapped in Libya for a ransom

Unidentified people have kidnapped 35 Egyptians in the Bani Walid region in Libya, demanding 700,000 dinars for their release.

The kidnapped Egyptians demanded their relatives, via voice messages, quickly provide the sums required for their release. There were reports that seven of the kidnapped were able to pay the required ransom and were released, and 16 others fled, while the fate of 12 remains unclear.

An audio recording of an Egyptian youth pleading with one of his relatives, named Hussam, quickly revealed the amount required to be released. The voice of one of the kidnappers can be heard, asking him to finish the conversation quickly. Two weeks ago, Egyptian citizens announced the kidnapping of eight of their relatives working in Libya, while the kidnappers demanded 20,000 dinars for each of them in exchange for their release.

Some village residents affiliated to Etsa City in the Fayoum Governorate revealed to news websites that armed men had kidnapped eight villagers who had been working in Libya for a year. They explained that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 20,000 Libyan dinars for each young man in exchange for their release and pointed out the dangers that Egyptian workers face in Libya.

Many workers from Fayoum Governorate resort to travel to Libya, exposing themselves to severe danger in an unstable country and living under a civil war due to widespread unemployment in Egypt. The most painful incident for Egyptians was the kidnapping of Christian Egyptian workers by ISIS in February 2015, before announcing they had been killed.