TUNIS, Tunisia, September 9 (Reuters) — Two Tunisian journalists who were kidnapped in Libya last year could still be alive, it emerged on Tuesday (September 8).
Investigative journalist Sofian Chourabi and photographer Nadhir Ktari were abducted in August last year. In April of this year, Islamic State militants claimed to have killed them.
But in a radio interview on Tuesday, Tunisia’s foreign minister said he had proof the pair were still alive.
Reacting to the news, Chourabi’s father said the lack of concrete information was exhausting.
“Naturally we are getting tired psychologically. Put yourself in the place of parents that don’t have any information about their children. If we had even a little piece of information, we would be somewhat relieved,” said Maaouia Chourabi.
In April, a spokesman for Libya’s official government based in eastern Libya said an arrested militant had admitted that his group had killed the two reporters.
A statement by the rival self-declared government in Tripoli also said the two Tunisians had been killed, citing its investigations with suspects.
But Tunisia’s National Union of Journalists said they were convinced the pair were still alive.
“When the Libyan government offers its condolences, we refuse to accept them. We say that our colleagues are still alive and we will accuse the Libyan authorities of committing a crime if they (the missing journalists) have been hidden. We have asked the (Tunisian) authorities to do their job, whether it’s the former or the new government. Of course, the information we have received from different sources is reassuring: they confirm that they are still alive. But for us, we need more. It’s not enough that governmental officials, and let’s be more specific, it’s not enough that the minister of foreign affairs declares that they are still alive. We were told this information months ago. Now we are asking for effective action,” said Neji Bghouri.
However, the Tunisian head of Reporters Without Borders said the fate of the two missing journalists was still unclear.
“We have no proper information to confirm whether they are alive or dead. We have announcements from the Tunisian authorities which lead us to believe that there is still hope. But so far, it’s very difficult to know,” said Yasmina Kacha.
Militants loyal to Islamic State have exploited a security vacuum in Libya, where two governments and parliaments allied to host of various armed groups are fighting each other on several fronts four years after the ousting of strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
Islamic State, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, has claimed responsibility in Libya for the killing of 30 Ethiopian and 21 Egyptian Christians as well as an attack on a Tripoli hotel, embassies and oilfields.
