Libyan journalists protest against abduction of colleagues

Libyan journalists on Monday protested in the capital,Tripoli against the abduction of two journalists who work for Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV kidnapped by an armed group said to be loyal to Khalifa Haftar.

The Two Libyan journalists were covering clashes near Tripoli for a private TV channel when they were detained by a group loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, their employer and Reporters Without Borders said Friday.

The two journalists were seized on Thursday and their fate remains unknown, the global media watchdog and local TV channel Libya al-Ahrar said Friday.

“We are protesting today to support our colleagues Mohammed Al-Qurij and Mohammed Al-Shebani who were abducted last Thursday. We don’t have any news about them, or what’s become of them, we hope that the organisations who abducted them will free them,” said Iman Ben Amer, a journalist.

Libya local media, al-Ahrar in a statement expressed its “deep concern” over their disappearance, saying it had lost contact with the two journalists named, Mohamad al-Gurj and Mohamad al-Shibani.

“A journalist is a civilian who doesn’t have any relations with military and political tensions, he just has to send information and news from the ground, with credibility and professionalism,“addedIman Ben Amer, journalist.
Forces loyal to the internationally recognised GNA have since launched a counter-offensive, leading to a stalemate on the southern outskirts of the capital.

Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) launched an offensive against the Tripoli based Government of National Accord (GNA) on April 4.