Libya Olympics official 'abducted'

Tripoli, 16 Jul – (ANA) - Libya Olympics Committee President Nabil Elalem has disappeared after two vehicles carrying armed men forced him to stop while in his car. A spokesman for Libya's Olympics commission told a Libyan TV channel that the men had claimed to be from the army and asked Mr Elalem "politely" to go with them. Mr Elalem's whereabouts remain unknown, and there has been no information yet about the identity of the alleged kidnappers.

Libya's Sports and Youth Minister Fethi Tarbel told Reuters news agency: "We condemn this kind of action. Whoever did this are criminals. "This goes against the revolution, this brings us back to the Gaddafi culture... I don't know if he [Mr Elalem] had any issues with anyone."

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya's interim government has struggled to bring armed groups under control. Some former rebel fighters have refused to lay down their arms and often take the law into their own hands, detaining people and running makeshift jails in some parts of the country. (ANA)

FA/ANA/16 July 2012---------