2 Lebanese Abducted in Libya, Conflicting Reports on Motive

Lebanon's foreign ministry announced Wednesday evening that the kidnap of two Lebanese men in Libya is not related to Hannibal Gadhafi's arrest in Lebanon but rather to a “financial dispute.”

“Lebanese citizens Mohammed Mustafa Nazha and Khaled Mustafa Nazha were abducted in Benghazi around a month ago over a financial dispute between them and their partners in the carpentry business,” the ministry quoted Lebanon's ambassador to Libya Mohammed Skaineh as saying.

The incident “has nothing to do with” Hannibal's case “seeing as the kidnap occurred prior to his arrest,” the ministry added in its statement.

It noted that the issue “is being addressed by the embassy and by the abductees' family away from the media spotlight.”

“The ambassador fears that the story was posted on Facebook by a party seeking to fish in troubled waters and achieve financial gains,” the ministry added.

A video featuring still pictures of the two men and the voice of an unknown man had surfaced earlier in the day on Facebook and YouTube.

The video shows the two men holding banners carrying their names, ages and Lebanese addresses.

The banners also carried an appeal to Prime Minister Tammam Salam saying the abductees' fate is now linked to that of Hannibal Gadhafi.

“Release him in return for our freedom,” says the appeal.

“This is a response to the unethical operation that was carried out by Lebanese elements who abducted Captain Hannibal Moammar Gadhafi,” says a man identifying himself as a member of the so-called special missions unit of the Martyr Mutassem Billah Moammar Gadhafi Brigade.

According to the banners that appear in the video, the two men used to live in the northern Lebanese areas of Tripoli and Minieh.

“We hold you responsible for anything that might happen to them if you procrastinate to release Captain Hannibal Moammar Gadhafi,” says the alleged pro-Gadhafi man in the video, apparently addressing Lebanese authorities.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), an uncle of the two men confirmed that "the names that were mentioned in the video are correct," noting that the family does not have further information.

Hannibal Gadhafi was kidnapped in a Syrian area near the Lebanese border on December 11 before being smuggled into Lebanon's Bekaa region. He was handed over hours later to Lebanese security forces.

Lebanese authorities have charged Hannibal with withholding information about the disappearance of revered Shiite cleric and founder of the AMAL Movement Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978 along with two companions.

A security source has told AFP that investigators discovered that ex-MP Hassan Yaaqoub had orchestrated an elaborate scheme to seize Gadhafi from Syria and bring him to Lebanon.

Yaaqoub was arrested after several days on charges of involvement in Hannibal's abduction.

Yaaqoub is the son of Sheikh Mohammed Yaaqoub – one of the two companions who disappeared with al-Sadr in Libya in 1978.

Al-Sadr's Libya visit was paid upon the invitation of then Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi – Hannibal's father. The three were seen lastly on August 31.

They were never heard from again.

The Lebanese judiciary had indicted Moammar Gadhafi in 2008 over al-Sadr's disappearance, although Libya had consistently denied responsibility, claiming that the imam and his companions had left Libya for Italy.

Y.R.