Libyan authorities searching for abducted Red Crescent official

Benghazi, Libya: The Libyan Red Crescent said on Sunday that unidentified assailants abducted one of its local officials several days ago in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, while a security source said a search was underway.

Mansour Ati al-Maghrabi, head of the Red Crescent’s Ajdabiya branch, was taken Thursday, branch secretary-general Marii al-Dersi said. "We lost all contact with the director on Thursday when unknown (assailants) forced him from the LRC headquarters in Ajdabiya," Dersi told AFP by telephone. Authorities have opened an investigation, a security source in Ajdabiya told AFP on condition of anonymity.