Libya's Olympic Committee president kidnappedJuly 16, 2012 - 15:05 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The president of Libya's Olympic Committee Nabil al-Alam was kidnapped by gunmen in the centre of Tripoli and taken to a secret location, AFP reports. "Nine gunmen posing as members of the Libyan army removed Mr. Alam from his car in the centre of the city at around 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) and took him to an unknown location," Alam's office chief Arafat Juwan said. The army and interior ministry were not aware of any arrests, he added. Alam's abduction comes a few days before the planned departure of Libya's five representatives to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are set to begin on July 27. Libyan athletes will be participating in judo, the marathon, the women's 100-metre dash and weightlifting. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that he had been in contact with the NOC in Libya. "We are in contact to know about what happened," said the 70-year-old Belgian, who was giving a pre-London Games telephone conference from IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. "We expressed our grave concern and offered any possible help we can give. I have really no more details on what happened than the media do. Hopefully this will evolve favorably." Before last year's revolt which toppled the regime of Moamer Kadhafi, the Libyan Olympic Committee was headed by the strongman's eldest son Mohammed, who has since sought refuge in Algeria with other family members. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |