Egypt condemns kidnapping of Tunisian consular staff in Libya

Saturday 13-06-2015 10:02 PM
Egypt condemns kidnapping of Tunisian consular staff in Libya

Screengrabs from footage released by the Egyptian military of the airstrikes launched by the Egyptian air force against militant targets in Libya, on February 16, 2015.

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CAIRO, Jun 13 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's Foreign Ministry condemned "in the strongest terms" the kidnapping of Tunisan consular workers in Libyan capital Tripoli, in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday, Tunisia announced the kidnapping of 10 workers at the consulate after the office was raided by an armed group. 

Tunisian authorities are negotiating with the kidnappers and have chosen not to reveal the name of the group responsible for the sake of the negotiations, Tohami Abdouli, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Arab and African Affairs told Tunisian state agency TAP. 

Abdouli added that the negotiations were successful and the abductees are expected to be released shortly, TAP said. 

Earlier today, the interior minister of Libya's Tripoli-based government was cited by Reuters as saying the abductees are in good condition. 

In his condemnation of the incident, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdelatty said the government and people of Egypt stand by Tunisia as it faces this situation.

He called for preserving the lives and safety of the abductees.

Twenty Coptic Egyptians were abducted in the Libyan city of Sirte on two separate occasions in December and January, only one week apart.  

On February 15, the Egyptian abductees were beheaded at the hands of men believed to belong to a Libyan division of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. 

Egypt struck militant targets in Libya one day after the beheadings. 

Libya has been caught up in unprecedented violence since mid-2014, when army general Khalifa Haftar declared war on Islamist forces within Libya, prompting nationwide militant fighting. 

Libyan capital Tripoli has fallen under the control of the Fajr Libya or Libya Dawn Islamist militia since August 2014. Meanwhile, Egypt and the international community only recognise authorities based in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.  

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