By Noora Ibrahim and Moutaz Ahmed.
Benghazi, 10 July 2014:
Another son of Major General Suleiman Obeidi, who was one of the first . . .[restrict]top officers to join the revolution in February 2011, has been kidnapped.
According to the head of Saiqa Special Forces Investigations Unit Fadel Al-Hassi, Mahmoud Obeidi was grabbed in Benghazi’s Kish area this evening by four gunmen in a 4×4 vehicle who forced his car to stop. They then drove off with him and his car to an unknown destination. However Obeidi’s vehicle was later found in Fuwayhat district, which was then surrounded by security forces in a bid to prevent his captors taking him elsewhere.
Just under a fortnight ago, on 29 June, gunmen tried to kill Mahmoud, a civilian.
In November last year, his brother Haithem, a legal adviser at the Ministry of Defence in Benghazi, was kidnapped while heading home in Benghazi. He has not been heard of since.
Both abductions are thought to be aimed at the father. There have been widely circulated reports that the General Obeidi is a supporter of Operation Dignity and has been selected by Khalifa Hafter to take control of Dignity forces when they head to Derna.
Although this has been firmly denied by sources close to Hafter, the rumour is out there and could be the reason for Mahmoud’s abduction. [/restrict]
