ZCZC
BFF-34
SKOREA-PHILIPPINES-LIBYA-KIDNAPPING
Seoul deploys warship to Libya after S. Korean, Filipinos kidnapped
SEOUL, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Seoul said Thursday it had deployed a
warship to Libya in an apparent show of force to secure the release of a
South Korean national kidnapped along with three Filipinos in the North
African country.
The 4,000-tonne vessel, Munmu the Great, which takes part in anti-piracy
operations in the Gulf of Aden, was now on its way to Libya, officials said.
In addition to “carrying out its duty of protecting commercial vessels,
(the warship) is also preparing for all possibilities including the need for
military support”, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP, without elaborating
further.
The three Filipino engineers and a South Korean were abducted in an attack
on a water project site in western Libya on July 6.
Their governments confirmed they were featured in a video shared on social
media this week. The video, also posted by the SITE Intelligence group, shows
the four men addressing the camera in English.
An armed guard is pictured squatting behind them in the sand, but their
captors are not identified and the attack has not been claimed by any group.
It was not clear when the video was shot.
“The Philippine embassy in Tripoli has confirmed that the three men in the
video are the three Filipino technicians who (were) taken by armed men in
Libya last month,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Elmer
Cato told AFP.
A spokesman for Seoul’s presidential office said the government was doing
“its utmost with all the resources the country has”.
“His country and his president have never once forgotten him,” spokesman
Kim Eui-kyeom said in a statement.
“The government has been maintaining a close cooperation system with the
government of Libya and other allies, such as the Philippines and the United
States, since the day of the incident for his safety and release,” Kim said.
Since former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted from power and
killed in 2011, foreign workers and diplomatic missions have frequently been
targeted by militias or jihadists such as the Islamic State group.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1150 hrs