By Maha Suliman.
Benghazi, 4 November 2014:
Hawari Hospital has dismissed claims that four staff members believed kidnapped during recent fighting . . .[restrict], have been killed.
Hani Al-Araibi, the spokesman for the hospital, told the Libya Herald that staff were hoping the four medics, one doctor and three nurses, would be returned unharmed and had, as far as they knew, not been killed.
Social media messages had claimed the bodies of the four had been found dumped near Benina Airport and been taken to Marj Hospital . They implicated pro-government forces in the crime. However Marj Hospital has reportedly denied that the bodies had been brought to it,
The missing medics have been identified as Dr. Mohammed Al-Jazwi an X-ray specialist, nurse Mohammed Al-Ashour Al-Abeidi and dialysis technicians Mohammed Hamid Al-Agouri and Mufteh Al-Faitouri.
Hawari hospital has, in recent months, been under the protection and control of Ansar Al-Sharia. Last week it was reported that two Indian nurses had appealed to their families asking for help in returning home. They said they had been forced to treat and care for Ansar Al-Sharia militants under the threat of violence. If correct, other medical staff at Hawari may have faced similar conditions.
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