CAIRO, 23 July 2005 — Egyptian human rights organizations said that the Libyan authorities had executed four Egyptians on criminal charges without giving them a fair trial. The groups said in a statement that there are 15 other Egyptians on the death row. They called on the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and his son, Saiful Islam Qaddafi, to intervene to save the lives of the remaining Egyptians.
Earlier this month, the Libyan authorities repatriated 3,000 Egyptian citizens who were stuck in Libya with invalid work permits and no travel documents. The Egyptian workers were paid between 1,000 to 3,000 Egyptian pounds each to a couple of Egyptian companies that promised to get them work permits in Libya and lucrative wages.
According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Embassy in Libya, the contracts were “vaguely worded and did not specify the workers’ rights.” Egyptian Ambassador to Libya Muhammad Rifaa Al-Tahtawi ordered the two companies, one is said to be Libyan, to return back the passports to the Egyptian workers, their money and compensations for being unemployed for four months.
A spokesman for the Libyan Embassy in Cairo, Muhammad Al-Saddi, however, said no Libyan companies were part of the fraud. He added that the two companies, that have offices in Doqqi in Cairo, do operate in the Libyan market but none of them are Libyan nor have a Libyan partner. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Ezzat told Arab News that the ministry is taking all measures to stop such incidents from recurring.
A report issued by the People’s Assembly stated that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry managed to recover the passports of 1,500 workers and they returned to the country last week. The ministry, however, is still seeking a resolution with the Libyan authorities regarding the rest of the workers. The report added that housing, feeding and transportation of the workers back to Cairo is estimated to have cost over 500,000 Egyptian pounds.
