By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 27 July 2016:
TV star Saad Al-Jazui who disappeared on Sunday was today released by kidnappers after the reported payment of a ransom.
Jazui’s family is refusing to talk to the media, but it is understood that his abductors settled for the reasonably small sum of LD50,000. The highest amount known to been have demanded by criminals for the release if their victims during the current wave of abductions is $500,000.
Jazui is understood to have been freed this afternoon. He was reportedly safe and well though shaken by his three-day ordeal.
He disappeared on Sunday morning after setting off from his home near Tripoli’s Airport Road. His phone was turned off. It is unclear how the ransom demand was made and when the cash was handed over to the criminals.
Jazui’s case was perhaps exceptional among recent spate of kidnappings. He is not only a well-known TV figure but his seizure produced a storm of protest, led by his long-time co-star Fathi Kahlol . A high-profile campaign was launched for Jazui to be found and released. It appears to have worked.
Many other victims of this heart-wrenching crime are kept for as long as it takes to wring money out of their family and friends and in some cases, once the ransom has been paid, they are murdered by their captors.
