Global Affairs confirms Canadian one of three people taken hostage in Libya

Ottawa has confirmed that a Canadian is among three people taken hostage in Libya earlier this week.

In a statement Sunday, Global Affairs spokesman Michael O’Shaughnessy says the Canadian government is “diligently pursuing all appropriate channels to obtain more information about this troubling incident.”

He says the government will not comment further or release any information that may compromise efforts to secure the hostages’ release or endanger the safety of Canadian citizens.

Earlier in the week, a Libyan official said authorities were investigating the abduction of three foreigners working for a maintenance company near the border with Algeria.

Hassan Osman Eissa from the Ghat municipal council told The Associated Press on Thursday that the abductors are not al-Qaida members, as some reports stated, but rather “a local group of outlaws.”

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The three foreigners seized — two Italians and one Canadian — were held at gunpoint Monday along the highway linking the southwestern cities of Ghat and Ubari.

Eissa said a team of five Italian investigators have arrived in the town where the Italians and Canadian were abducted.

—With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press