DFA seeks help from Iraq, Libya to secure release of 5 abducted Pinoys


The Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday asked authorities in Iraq and Libya to help secure the release of five Filipinos recently abducted by armed men in the two countries.
"We are in touch with authorities in Iraq and Libya and have requested their assistance in locating and securing the release of our missing kababayan,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.
He said the DFA was notified of the separate incidents of abduction by the Philippine embassies in Baghdad and Tripoli.
Two Filipinas were abducted on Saturday on a road connecting Baghdad to Kirkuk, Reuters reported.
The DFA said according to Chargé d’Affaires Julius Torres, the women were with two other Filipinas and were on their way to Baghdad from Kurdistan when armed men stopped their vehicle.
The driver reportedly abandoned the vehicle as the armed men took all four women. However, two of them later escaped and are in police custody.
On Friday, three Filipinos and one Korean were abducted by unidentified armed men in southeastern Libya, Reuters reported.
They were working as technicians at a water plant.
The DFA said according to Chargé d’Affaires Mardomel Melicor, armed men went to the construction site 500 kilometers from Tripoli early Friday and abducted five foreigners and four Libyans from their quarters.
The armed men later released all the Libyans and one of the foreign workers, Melicor said. —With a report from Michaela del Callar/KG, GMA News

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