Members of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces. (Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP)
BEIRUT —A Saudi citizen was kidnapped Sunday in Beirut, caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi tweeted Monday.
According to local television station Al Jadeed, the man was kidnapped from a neighborhood close to the airport road in Beirut.
“We have been following up with the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces since [Sunday] on the issue of the kidnapping of a Saudi citizen in Beirut, and we are following up on the issue with ... the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Lebanon, Walid al-Bukhari,” Mawlawi said in his tweet.
نتابع مع شعبة المعلومات بقوى الأمن الداخلي منذ الأمس قضية اختطاف مواطن سعودي في بيروت ونحن على تواصل بأدق التفاصيل مع سعادة السفير @bukhariwaleeed. دائما وبيد من حديد نعمل لتحرير أي مواطن يتعرض لأي أذى على أرض لبنان. ما حصل يمس بعلاقة لبنان مع أشقائه وسيكون عقاب الفاعلين قاسيا
— Bassam Mawlawi (@MawlawiBassam) May 29, 2023
Mawlawi added that Lebanon will work “on liberating any citizens who are exposed to any harm on Lebanese soil. What happened affects Lebanon's relationship with its brothers, and the perpetrators will be punished harshly.”
The Saudi newspaper Okaz tweeted Monday evening that the kidnapped man works for Saudia Airlines in Beirut and that “the kidnappers …demanded — via a call issued from the southern suburbs of Beirut — a ransom of $400,000” for his release.
خاطفو المواطن السعودي في #لبنان طلبوا -عبر مكالمة صادرة من الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت- فدية مالية تقدر بـ400 ألف دولار (1.5 مليون ريال)
— عكاظ (@OKAZ_online) May 29, 2023
(الإخبارية)#عكاظhttps://t.co/JTehHJr0f0 pic.twitter.com/CXEn5Elula
An Iraqi man was kidnapped from Jounieh, Kesrouan governate, in April and was freed by the army two days later. A Syrian man was kidnapped in Aley the same month, shortly after his arrival in Lebanon from Dubai. He was later freed by Internal Security Forces.
Last July, Saudi political dissident Manea al-Yami was killed in Lebanon. Lebanon's Internal Security Forces said he was stabbed to death by his two brothers in a family dispute.
