By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 8 January 2015:
There is growing concern about the fate of two Tunisian journalists kidnapped in Libya in . . .[restrict]September following the publication of claims on a Facebook page that they have been executed by militant Islamists.
On the Facebook page purporting to be that of the Islamic Emirate of Cyrenaica – the political entity set up in the east of Libya by Daesh (or the Islamic State) – it has been claimed that Sofiane Chourabi, a presenter and producer with First TV Tunisia, and photographer Nadhir Gtari had been executed because they were working for a television company that was anti-Islamic.
Rumours that they might have been executed by Daesh, which controls Derna, first emerged three days ago. However, they were not seen as credible at the time.
The two men were initially abducted near Brega on 3 September and held for three days before being released. They were then seized again near Ajdabiya on 8 September and have not been heard of since. The identity of their abductors have until now been unknown, although Islamists have been suspected.
There are photos of the two on the Facebook page but they are said to be old.
The claim of the killings has been reported on TV in Libya, but according to Nejiba Hamrouni, former president of National Union of Tunisian, there has been no confirmation of the report.
“We still do not have any information about it,” she added. [/restrict]
