TRIPOLI: A Tunisian diplomat was kidnapped in Tripoli yesterday in unknown circumstances, a Libyan security source said, just two days after armed men seized Jordan’s ambassador.
A Tunisian source confirmed the abduction and identified the diplomat as Al Aroussi Kontassi, without giving further details.
Tunis’s ambassador to Libya, Ridha Boukadi, refused to comment.
Libyan foreign ministry spokesman Said Lessoued said he could not confirm or deny the reported abduction, the latest in a string of incidents targeting foreign diplomats and Libyan politicians.
A Tripoli police official, quoted by Al Wassat news website, however, said the diplomat was seized by unknown assailants near the central Al Kadissiya square, not far from the Tunisian embassy.
If confirmed, the diplomat would be the second staffer from the Tunisian embassy abducted in the Libyan capital since March 21 when a man employed by the mission was seized.
His fate is still unknown.
Diplomats in Tripoli say militias that fought to topple the Muammar Gaddafi regime in the 2011 uprising often carry out kidnappings in order to blackmail other countries into releasing Libyans held abroad.
On Tuesday, masked gunmen kidnapped Jordan’s ambassador, Fawaz Aitan, as he rode to work in Tripoli, shooting at his car and wounding his driver.
AFP
