Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Saudi newspaper owner and his aide in Cairo then released them two days later after they paid a ransom of Egyptian £130,000 ($26,000), a newspaper in the Gulf kingdom reported on Saturday.
Ali Al Hazmi, owner of the online Arabic language paper Sabq and his aide Sultan Al Maliki hired a taxi while on a visit to Cairo last Saturday and asked its driver to take them to another area, ‘Alihbariya’ said.
But the driver changed route and took them to an old area, where another car was waiting for them, the paper said.
“Three gunmen got out of that car and forced Hazmi and Maliki out of the taxi… they took them to an apartment in an old lane in Cairo and locked them up….they then asked the two to pay 150,000 pounds as a ransom and threatened to kill them if they fail to pay,” it said.
“Two days later, the two contacted their friends in Saudi Arabia and asked them to transfer the money to one of the kidnappers, who later settled for £130,000…the kidnappers released the two after receiving the money.”
The paper said Egyptian police identified the three kidnappers after showing pictures of some suspects to the victims. It said police launched a manhunt in search of the three but did not make clear if the money was recovered.