A Saudi businessman was kidnapped Sunday in Baalbek, leading the Lebanese Army to start a search on Monday morning in the Sharawneh district of Baalbek.
Bekaa’s public prosecutor, Judge Mounif Barakat, instructed security forces to “start investigations and gather information on his whereabouts, which is likely the al-Sharawneh neighborhood” on the outskirts of Baalbek, an official told AFP, asking not to disclose his name.
The army often conducts raids in al-Sharawneh, over cases of kidnapping, drug trafficking, theft, and other crimes. Unrest and clashes between rival influential families are common in Baalbek, where Hezbollah is dominant.
A gang reportedly lured the Saudi businessman to Lebanon to buy a property in Baalbek and he was taken directly to Baalbek on Sunday upon landing in Beirut, the official said.
Governor of Baalbek-Hermel Bachir Khoder said in a tweet that so far, there is no information confirming or denying the kidnapping of a Saudi citizen in Baalbek, and nothing has been reported to the security services about the loss of contact with the person allegedly kidnapped.
