Egypt calls on Interpol to arrest three ISIS-affiliated Libyans for kidnapping Egyptians
Egypt’s Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek issued on Sunday an international address to Interpol to arrest three Libyan terrorists and members of Daesh on charges related to espionage and the kidnapping Egyptians in Libya.
Sadek called on Interpol to arrest three Libyan nationals, according to an official statement, which described them as members of Daesh’s armed militias, who are involved, along with an Egyptian national who is currently in custody, in kidnapping Egyptians working in Libya and smuggling illegal migrants.
According to the statement, the group are also charged with demanding ransoms from the kidnapped families for the terrorist group.
The decision by Sadek came following investigations carried out by High State Prosecution, who questioned Egyptian defendant Mohamed Ragab Hassan over his ties with members of armed militias associated with Daesh.
According to the statement, Hassan, who worked in Libya, cooperated with the three Libyan men to gather information about Egyptians working in Libya and kidnap them through members of Daesh.
The statement added that Hassan was also a member of an organised group which smuggled illegal migrants into Libya, receiving money from the families of the migrants and transferring it to members of Dash in Libya.
The High State Prosecution also said that Hassan provided information in 2017 about several Egyptians in Libya and their residences, whereupon Daesh members kidnapped them based on the information provided.
The families of those kidnapped paid ransoms to Hassan, who transferred it to members of the terrorist group.
The general prosecution concluded by saying that several statements on the case, which the High State Prosecution is investigating, will follow.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that between 330,000 and 1.5 million Egyptians worked in Libya prior to 2011.
Since 2015, Egypt has repeatedly renewed warnings to its citizens to avoid travelling to Libya as the security situation remains following the killing of 20 Coptic Egyptian migrant workers by Daesh.
Several incidents of kidnapping of Egyptian workers by criminal gangs have taken place since the killings.
In 2017, the Egyptian army announced the successful release of 13 Egyptians who had been kidnapped in Libya following coordinated efforts for the captives’ release with the Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Source: Ahram
