Two groups involved in kidpapping of Croatian in Cairo: FM
Xinhua, August 13, 2015 Adjust font size:
Two groups were involved in the kidnapping of a Croatian in Cairo, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic said on Thursday.
One group captured the Croatian and demanded a ransom while another, believed as Islamic State group, released the video showing he was kidnapped, Pusic told a news conference in Croatian coastal city Rijeka.
She said Tomislav Salopek was kidnapped on July 20 and the captors asked a ransom from the French oil company Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (CGG) where Salopek worked for.
On Agu. 5, a video appeared online showing Salopek was in the hand of the Islamic State branch in Egypt.
Instead of requesting money, IS demanded release of Muslim women jailed in Egypt, but did not "specify who they really wanted to be released," Pusic said.
Pusic said Croatia still had no confirmation that Salopek had been killed and would continue to search for him with the same intensity as before.
On Wednesday, IS uploaded a photo on its Twitter account claiming it was the 31-year-old Salopek's beheaded body.
Earlier reports said that Salopek, 31, a father of two, was kidnapped in Cairo on July 22 on his way to work. Endit