The Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday announced the release of six Egyptians kidnapped last week in Libya, Al Arabiya reported.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, the foreign ministry spokesperson, announced that Egyptian embassy in Tripoli, currently operating out of Cairo due to the situation in Libya, has learned that the six Egyptian citizens who were kidnapped on their way back from Tripoli are currently in custody with the local authorities in the city of Bani Walid, awaiting their return to Egypt.
He identified the six Egyptians as Ibrahim Hafadi Muhammad Jilal, Shawqi Muhammad Ali, Saleh Jaber Younis, Ramadan Mahmoud, Shehaat Abdelhamid, and Ahmed Shehaat Abdelhamid.
Their families revealed that the car carrying them was attacked as the Egyptians were returning to Egypt and passing through Bani Waleed, where they were taken by gunpoint to a hidden location. They were then forced to call their family and request that they pay 100,000 Libyan Dinars, about $72,310, for each person as ransom.
The ministry also confirmed that the kidnapped men were working in Libya and kidnapped by an armed group in Bani Waleed and were taken to an unknown location in the desert between Bani Waleed and Misrata.
Abu Zeid urged all citizens to abide by the temporary travel ban to Libya. He added that Egyptians currently residing in Libya are putting themselves at risk by staying, and asked them to return.
