By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 7 July 2017:
A Libyan who took refuge in the Libyan consulate in Jeddah after two colleagues were arrested at the city’s airport, has been detained by Saudi police when left the building and went to the airport.
Hussein Zahait fled to the consulate nine days ago after fellow Libyans Mahmoud Ben-Rajab and Mohammed Hussein Al-Khadrawi were held as they prepared to board a flight home after performing Umrah.
Last Saturday, another Libyan, 42 year-old Abdul-Ghani Mohamed Ammar Abdullah was arrested in similar circumstances. It is unclear why he was held but it is understood that the other three men were wanted in connection with the 2014 Tripoli kidnap of five Egyptian diplomats. The envoys were only released after the Egyptian government freed Shaaban Hadia Al-Zawi, better known as Abu Obeida, head of the Islamist Libyan Revolutionaries Operation Room (LROR), who had been detained in Alexandria.
The Saudi authorities have said that Zahait was arrested after a scuffle at Jeddah airport. It is thought that the Saudi government has responded to a request from Presidency Council (PC) head Faiez Serraj for details about the why first three Libyans were wanted.
This article has been updated.
