By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis/Cairo, 19 August 2017:
The municipal council in the east Tripoli suburb of Tajoura has denied reports that a local boy was kidnapped five days ago and then found murdered after his parents were unable to pay the LD 800,000 ransom.
It says that it has had is no information to confirm the story, the savagery of which had shocked people in Tripoli, despite kidnappings now being a daily occurrence.
The story first emerged from the interior ministry in Tripoli. It said that the body of Moaz Abdullah Farahat, who had been kidnapped by a gang a few days earlier near Tajoura Heart Hospital, was found on Thursday. The family, it added, had been unable to pay the LD 800,00 demanded by the kidnappers.
Despite the council’s denial, local civil society activists insist the story is true. They claim that the council, allegedly controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, is embarrassed about what happened and is trying to hush it up.
There have been other reports of kidnappings in the area. Yesterday another was reported near the heart hospital. A 25-year-old man named as Isra Ghaith Al-Warfali was seized by a four-man gang.
Local activists blame the surge in the kidnappings on members of the Benghazi Defence Brigades who have moved into the area after being forced out of Misrata.
No evidence to back the claims has emerged.
