Following circulating news regarding the kidnapping of 15 Egyptian workers in Libya, kidnappers informed the brother of one of the kidnapped workers that his brother was killed due to the media campaigns launched by his family.
Meanwhile, Tarek El-Khouly, member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee submitted an inquest to parliament speaker Ali Abdul Aal regarding the Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya, in order to refer it to the Foreign Ministry to follow the case.
The MP made the inquest after he had received a message from the killed worker’s brother.
Hamada Salah, the brother of the allegedly dead Mohamed Salah, told Daily News Egypt on Tuesday that one of the kidnappers asserted to him through a WhatsApp message that Mohamed is now dead as a punitive measure for leaking the kidnapping operation to the media.
“They informed me that my brother is now dead. Until now, we did not get a proper answer from the Foreign Ministry who had previously informed us that it will be hard to reach them due to the absence of an Egyptian diplomatic mission to Libya,” Hamada asserted.
Regarding the MP’s inquest, El-Khouly did not mention details about the death of Mohamed. It was only mentioned that Hamada had received information about the disappearance of workers and a call from a kidnapper seeking EGP 70,000 as ransom. The MP relied on Article 134 of the Constitution and Article 212 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives in his inquest.
Hamada further explained that following the receipt of the message, he and members from the families of the other Egyptian workers in Libya decided to go to Dakahlia security directorate to meet the security manager there.
The incident dates back to 10 January, when numerous photos circulated through several social media outlets in Egypt, showing a number of young Egyptians being bound in chains with apparent torture marks on their backs.
Hamada had told Daily News Egypt back then that Mohamed had been kidnapped by anonymous militants after illegally travelling to Libya in December 2016. He said that a smuggler had agreed to smuggle his brother into Libya so that he could find employment in agriculture. He explained that his brother is a farmer.
The alleged kidnapper asked Hamada to pay a ransom of EGP 70,000. “He urged me to collect the money and pay it as soon as possible because he and other Egyptians were subject to unbearable torture by their captors.”
Daily News Egypt made several attempts to reach the Foreign Ministry spokesperson for a comment on the incident, but no answers were received
