A gang in Libya is believed to have kidnapped 13 Egyptian workers, and demanded a ransom of more than $8,000 dollars from their families to release them, according to Al-Arabiya.net.
Abdel-Rahman Al-Baz, the brother of one of the kidnapped workers, told Al-Arabiya.net that his brother had travelled to Libya in mid-July for work. They had lost contact with him about two weeks ago.
“I know from some Egyptians working there that several workers, including my brother, had been kidnapped by armed gangs, and they are currently residing in a drug den near Tripoli,” he said.
“They called us and lowered the ransom in exchange for the release of my very sick brother. They reduced the ransom to $4,000 dollars in order to release him, fearing that he would die,” he added.
Notably, Libya ranked 20th among the insecure countries, according to the Numbeo Crime Index. The war-torn country was rated 62.00 in the crime index, a high rating.
Tripoli ranked 50th in the world, in the Crime Index classification for cities, and the second in the Arab world, with Damascus coming first. Tripoli received 64.27 degrees on the crime index, a high crime level.
The Crime Prevalence Index aims to assess the general level of crime in 135 countries around the world. The crime index is based on several criteria; such as murder, robbery, and rape.