Former Adviser to Saudi King Drugged, Kidnapped and Freed in Lebanon
A previous political adviser to the King of Saudi Arabia has been freed early this month after being abducted from his own house in the northern Metn District of Mount Lebanon and held hostage for one day, the An-Nahar daily reported on Saturday.
In an phone interview to the daily, Ahmed al-Ajaji said: “On March the 9th I was sleeping at my own home in the Beit Misk project and woke up later to find myself somewhere else,” he believes that he was drugged and taken a hostage.
The kidnappers had demanded a 20 thousand dollars ransom in exchange for his release.
Based on the kidnappers' accent, Ajaji suspected that they were from the Bekaa town of Baalbek despite their revelation that they were Syrians.
Hostage-taking of wealthy businessmen in Lebanon has risen more than seven-fold in an unlikely knock-on effect from Syria's civil war.
The kidnapping is creating a sense of palpable panic. Lebanese media routinely runs pleas from families of the abducted.
Photo Credit: An Nahar newspaper.
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