24-04-2024 03:54 PM Jerusalem Timing

Two Serbia Embassy Employees Abducted in Libya

Two Serbia Embassy Employees Abducted in Libya

Two Serbian embassy employees, a man and a woman, were abducted in Libya’s coastal city of Sabratha on Sunday while they were travelling in convoy to Tunisia, officials said.

Two Serbian embassy employees, a man and a woman, were abducted in Libya's coastal city of Sabratha on Sunday while they were travelling in convoy to Tunisia, officials said.

Serbia's ambassador to Libya was in the motorcade in a separate car when the incident took place, about 100 kilometers from the main border crossing between Libya and Tunisia.Libya flag

A foreign ministry statement identified the abducted pair as Sladjana Stankovic, in charge of communications, and Jovica Stepic, a driver.

"The attackers first provoked an accident, hitting the embassy car from the back, so when the driver got out to see what had happened, they literally dragged him into one of their cars," Ambassador Oliver Potezica told Serbian state news agency Tanjug.

The attackers, who were all masked, then asked the woman to get out and into their car before speeding off, Potezica said, adding that one attacker had opened fire on a Libyan citizen in the convoy and hit him in the leg.

Sabratha is considered a bastion for extremists in lawless Libya, which has become a magnet for radical militants who receive weapons training in Takfiri camps before launching deadly attacks in other countries.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told the state broadcaster RTS that he had spoken with Libyan officials about the kidnapping and expected a positive outcome within 48 hours.

But Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic earlier said they had "no information" about the identity of the kidnappers.

"Nobody has contacted us to demand anything. We are following the situation," he told RTS, adding that a crisis committee had been set up.