ILLizi kidnapped governor returns home
Algiers(18/01/2012)-ILLizi governor Mohamed Alaid Khalfi who was kidnapped and then freed in neighbouring Libya was handed over to the Algerian authorities yesterday at about 10:55 pm at Debdeb border point , Interior Ministry said.
Head of the National Popular Council Abdelaziz Ziari said here on Wednesday during a public meeting that Illizi Governor in good health.
The same source added that the kidnappers were arrested at about 150 km in the libyan soil, asserting that the governor will be handed over to the Algerian authorities at the border point of Adabdab (south eastern Algeria).
Governor of Illizi (south of Algeria), Mr. Mohamed Alaid Khalfwas kidnapped on Monday in the area of Timeroualine (80 km from Dabdab in the borders with Libya), the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that the governor was kidnapped at 16:00 pm when returning from a regular work mission in Dabdab, by three Algerian gunmen who have been identified.
Illizi governor Mohamed Alaid Khalfi attended a meeting in Dabdab with the head of popular council, the head of local department of Ain Aminas, the head of Dabdab local council, and representatives of the civil society, then he was returning to Illizi, however; three Algerian armed youth stopped the convoy.
Same source asserted that the head of the local popular council in charge of the protocol and the governor’s driver have been released by kidnappers who refused to free the governor and took him towards the Algeria-libyan borders.
According to the Interior Ministry’s statement, the governor, whose car was abandoned in the desert, called his family at 21:30 pm without adding any details.
The ministry explained that all measures and necessary means are taken at all levels to insure the governor’s release as soon as possible.
A member of the Algerian Nasional Assembly, Ibrahim Houma told AFP that Illizi Governor was taken by kidnapers to Libya and will be handed over to the Algerian authorities before today’s sunset.
The same official added that the governor was taken to Libya and Libyans will hand him over to the Algerian authorities here on Tuesday evening in the Algeria-Libya borders of Dabdab.