Libya Olympics official abducted in Tripoli

DHAKA: The president of Libya’s Olympic committee, Nabil Elalem, is reported to have been abducted in Tripoli.

According to eyewitness accounts, Elalem was in his car with a colleague when two vehicles carrying armed men forced him to stop.

A spokesman for Libya’s Olympics commission told a Libyan TV channel that the men had claimed to be from the army and asked Elalem ‘politely’ to go with them.

His colleague was left in the car, reports BBC.

Elalem’s whereabouts remain unknown, and there has been no information yet about the identity of the alleged kidnappers.

Libya’s Sports and Youth Minister Fethi Tarbel told media, ‘We condemn this kind of action. Whoever did this are criminals.’

‘This goes against the revolution, this brings us back to the Gaddafi culture... I don’t know if he (Mr Elalem) had any issues with anyone.’

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya’s interim government has struggled to bring armed groups under control.

Some former rebel fighters have refused to lay down their arms and often take the law into their own hands, detaining people and running makeshift jails in some parts of the country.

Earlier this month, two Libyan journalists were kidnapped near the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid. And a militia in the town of Zintan is still holding Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the ousted leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

BDST: 1521 HRS, JUL 16, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor