The body of an Egyptian TV director who was reported dead on Tuesday near the Libyan city of Bayda has yet to be found. His family is currently awaiting any information regarding his whereabouts.
Mohamed Galal, 31, who worked for the Libyan TV station Barqa, was kidnapped in August 2014 by Islamist militants, along with four other Libyans from the station crew, according to a Facebook post by his cousin Doaa Sultan.
The bodies of the four abducted Libyans were identified by their families Tuesday night; however Mohamed Galal’s body was not among the deceased, according to Sultan.
The reporters had been missing since August, when they left the eastern city Tobruk to travel to Benghazi after covering the inauguration of the country’s elected parliament, Reuters reported Monday.
“We don’t know anything right now, Galal could still be alive,” Sultan said.
Officials from Bayda city had contacted Galal’s family, as well as the Egyptian consulate in Tobruk, to inform them that an Egyptian national’s body was found, but the consulate was unresponsive.
Sultan stated that up until now, there were no actions or official response from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry regarding the issue. “As long as it’s just one person, you don’t see any action.”
The Foreign Ministry could not confirm or deny the incident. A statement has yet to be released regarding the issue.
“We were told by the ministry to file a request in order to receive the body, and we have already done so. That was before we found out that Galal’s body was not identified among the others,” explained Sultan.
Egypt has been evacuating Egyptians residing in Libya since the beheading of 20 Coptic Egyptians in Sirte in February, which was claimed by “Islamic State” (IS) affiliates. In response to the attack, Egypt coordinated with Libya’s internationally-recognised interim government in Tobruk in attacks on the city of Derna, which is known to be a militant stronghold.
Egypt has repeatedly issued travel warnings to its citizens in Libyan territories due to the ongoing violence Libya has been witnessing since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
