By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 15 December 2015:
A Maltese doctor working at Tripoli’s St James Hospital was seized last night and taken away . . .[restrict]by unknown gunmen.
Details of the abduction of Pierre Baldacchino, a pathologist who has been working at the Maltese-run hospital for three and a half years, are unclear.
There is however widespread shock among Libyan colleagues and members of the expatriate community. While it is feared that the 36 year-old Baldacchino may be yet another victim of kidnappers who will hold him for ransom, there was hopeful speculation today that he had been seized so that he could treat wounded gunmen.
Married with two young girls, Baldacchino is the second Maltese citizen to be kidnapped this year. In October the manager of a Malta-owned car park company Noel Sciberras was released after being held for six weeks. The Rada Deterrence Force said that they had freed him from his Tajoura kidnappers, but Maltese sources said that kidnappers have released him themselves. There were reports that a $5 million ransom had been demanded. It was unclear if any cash had been handed over. [/restrict]
