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By George Grant.
Tripoli, 30 November:
Criminals have threatened to kill a ten-year old boy abducted from a small town west of Tripoli . . .[restrict]on Thursday afternoon unless they receive a LD 500,000 ransom.
Abdulmalik Ismael Bel-Eid was approached by three men in a black 4×4 Hyundai Tuscon as he was walking from his grandfather’s house to the mosque in Tuwebia for Maghrib prayers. Together with him was one of his cousin, also aged ten.
“The men asked the boys for directions to the house of Ismael Bel-Eid”, said Redah Ben Yousef, another of Abdulmalik’s cousins.
“Abdulmalik told them that Ismael Bel-Eid was his father and offered to give them directions, but they insisted he get in the car and show them the way, so he did. When his cousin also tried to get in the car they stopped him, told him to wait where he was, and then drove away.
Shortly afterwards, Abdulmalik’s distraught parents received a phone call from the kidnappers demanding the LD 500,000 ransom for his release.
“Where do they expect the family to get that kind of money?” asked Ben Yousef. “Yes, they are comfortable, but they don’t own a Ferrari or anything like that; it isn’t possible.”
The family informed the police and the Supreme Security Committee, both of whom have pledged to do all they can to find and apprehend the kidnappers.
“The problem is, they have no idea who these people are. The family was not with the Qaddafi regime; they supported the revolution, but they are not with the militias, and they don’t have any enemies who could be considered as suspects”, Ben Yousef continued.
The family lives in a sizeable villa on a farm in Tuwaiba, and it is thought they have been targeted for their perceived wealth as opposed to for any political reason.
This evening, the family received a second phone call from the kidnappers, only this time they put Abdulmalik on the line. “He was crying so much”, Ben Yousef said. “Then the men got on the phone and said, ‘we know where you live and we will have no hesitation in killing your son, you and your family if you mess around. We want the money tomorrow’.”
The family appear to have little confidence in the government’s ability to act and have chosen to make their son’s story public.
At the time of the kidnapping, one of the three men was said to have been wearing a cap, whilst the second had long hair and the third was bald.
Anyone with any information on Abdulmalik’s situation can contact his family on 0913724712. [/restrict]
