Armed men in an eastern Libyan city kidnapped 16 Egyptian workers over a financial dispute between Libyan contractors and their Egyptian partner, residents of the workers’ home village said.
The incident revived concerns over the fate of Egyptians, most of them working as cheap labourers, in Libya — a country torn by lawlessness since Western-backed rebels toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Egyptian officials were not immediately available to comment.
Residents of the small village which the kidnapped workers came from — Al-Herda in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh — said three hostages escaped but their whereabouts were not known.
The workers were seized four days ago in Tobruk, on Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast, by unknown gunmen after Libyan contractors accused a business partner from the same Egyptian village as the kidnapped men of fleeing after he stole 100,000 Libyan dinars ($72,000).
The kidnappers told village residents through mediators the men would be freed once the Egyptian businessman returned the money.
One resident said the kidnappers threatened unspecified action against the hostages if the money was not paid.
“The Libyan side said he wants his money before letting the men go,” a resident, who asked not to be identified, said. He said the kidnappers would deliver the men to Egypt’s border post with Libya at Salloum once the money was paid.
Thousands of Egyptians, most driven by lack of jobs, sought work in Libya since 2011, risking their lives in a country where Islamist militants and militias largely rule.
A resident of the Egyptian village said his brother paid 7,000 Egyptian pounds ($390) to smugglers who helped him reach Libya via desert roads.
“I am worried about my brother’s life because killing in Libya is common practice,” the man who asked not to be identified said.
One kidnapped man travelled to Libya to help pay for a house he is building in his native Herda, his mother said.
“We all depend on him, his father is ill,” said Hasanat Mostafa, the mother.
Asked what needed to be done for her son, she said: “I want him to come back. Government should intervene and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi should intervene.”
In 2015, Islamic State militants killed 20 Egyptian Christians kidnapped while working in Libya.
