Kidnappers did not free Jordanian ambassador — Libya

AMMAN — Libyan authorities on Saturday, denied news reports that Fawaz Aitan — the kidnapped Jordanian envoy to Libya — was freed, stressing that there are no Jordanian troops in Libya to help free him.

Said Lassoued, the Libyan foreign ministry spokesperson, also dismissed as “baseless” Friday’s news reports that Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan who is serving a life prison sentence in Jordan, was sent back to Tripoli as part of a deal with the kidnappers to free Aitan.

“We do not have any information confirming these reports,” Lassoued told The Jordan Times over the phone. The spokesperson did not comment on the negotiations taking place between his country’s government and the kidnappers.

Aitan was kidnapped in Tripoli on April 15, and no “official” information has been released yet confirming the identity of the kidnappers or their demands.

However, Essam Baitelmel, a member of the Libyan team investigating the abduction was quoted by news reports as saying that kidnappers had demanded the release of Dersi. 

Dersi was convicted in an attempt to bomb Queen Alia International Airport in 2004, according to reports.

The Jordanian government stressed on several occasions that it is “working tirelessly” to secure Aitan’s release.

Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm or deny knowing the identity of the kidnappers or their demands, it stated that any news about the issue will be announced based on developments in the situation.

“Any information related to Aitan’s case will be announced according to developments, and in a way that will not affect the current communications related to the case,” Sabah Rafie, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

Rafie declined to comment on a statement made by Musa Abdullat, lawyer of the hard-line Jihadi Salafist movement in Jordan, who claimed that Dersi was sent back to Libya as part of a deal to free Aitan.