Power struggle in Libya behind techie's abduction

Kozhikode: Engineer Reji Joseph was abducted in Tripoli as part of the Libyan rebels' bid to gain control over the national civil registry there, a senior official of that conflict-ravaged country has said.
Quoting Abdelgader Alsaity, deputy head of civil registry authority (CRA), Libyan state news agency LANA said Joseph, 43, and four others were forcefully taken away by the militia, controlling the 'intelligence service' of the Tripoli-based government.
The government has not been recognized by the international community.
Joseph, an infrastructure engineer with Al-Diwan company implementing CRA's national citizen database project, was abducted on March 31, according to his relatives at Koorachundu near here.
The rebels had tried hacking into CRA servers last month. The north African country has been witnessing a fluid and chaotic political situation with many militias refusing to support the recently formed UN-backed national unity government.
The internationally unrecognized self-declared National Salvation government has so far refused to cede power to the UN-backed government, backtracking from its earlier stand that it would relinquish power to prevent further bloodshed.
The National Salvation government led by a coalition of militias had stormed to power in Tripoli in 2014, forcing the government, backed by the international community, to flee to the country's far east.
Alsaity confirmed that five employees working on the key CRA project, including Joseph, were kidnapped from their workplace at Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT), Libya's main state internet service provider.
LANA reported that 'outlaw militias' in Tripoli were attempting to gain access to, and control, Libya's national civil registry.
Media reports quoting Alsaity said Bab Tajura militia was responsible for the abduction and had taken the employees to the salvation government's intelligence headquarters.
LANA identified the abducted foreigners as Reji Joseph and Egyptian national Hussam-aldeen Mohamed. The identities of the Libyan technicians were not revealed.
The abducted man's brother, Jojo Joseph, said the Indian embassy in Libya had confirmed the abduction.
"We are praying and hoping that diplomatic initiatives by the Indian government would succeed," he said.