Another expat Bangladeshi ISIS hostage

Another Bangladeshi national was among the nine foreigners abducted from a Libyan oilfield on Friday, the Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli confirmed yesterday.

Initially, Anowar Hossain, whose passport number is AE3630754, was mistakenly identified as a Sudanese. Son of Yunus Mia, 38-year-old Anowar is from Goyeshpur village of Begumganj in Noakhali.

On Monday, a foreign ministry release said those kidnapped by ISIS militants from al-Ghani oilfield included one Bangladeshi national -- Helal Uddin of Jamalpur, bearing passport No B0156553.

The ministry issued another statement yesterday saying, “The Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli has confirmed that apart from Mr Helal Uddin, another Bangladeshi has been identified…”

“It has been informed that initially Mr Anowar was mistakenly identified as Sudanese national having similar name. However, Mr Anowar's identity was confirmed by a Bangladeshi working in a neighbouring oilfield.”

Anowar's family urged the government to take measures for his rescue, reported our Noakhali correspondent.

“I heard today [yesterday] about the abduction. I tried to reach him by phone several times but failed,” said Marufa Khatun, wife of Anowar, father of two -- Rahin, 7 and Raisha, 5. 

According to the international media, the kidnapped foreigners were working for the Austrian oil services company VAOS and they included four Filipinos, a Ghanaian, an Austrian and a Czech.

SM Ashraful Islam, labour counsellor of Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli, told The Daily Star over the phone that the mission was in touch with the Australian embassy, the company concerned and the Libyan authorities in efforts to locate the two Bangladeshis.

A foreign ministry official in Dhaka said they are hopeful about the release of the two as the government has not joined any alliance against ISIS, considering the safety of Bangladeshis working in the Middle East.

With Libya plunging into chaos amid turf war between two rival governments and the rise of Islamist extremists, Bangladesh halted sending workers to the country in May last year.