Kidnappers holding a 12-year-old boy have threatened to kill their hostage if their demand for a $1 million ransom is not met, security sources told The Daily Star Thursday.
However, the kidnappers did not set a deadline for the payment of the ransom for the release of Mohammad Nibal Awada, who was snatched at gunpoint in Beirut Wednesday morning, the sources added.
The kidnappers made the ransom demand in a telephone call to the family hours after Awada was snatched, the sources said.
Awada was waiting outside his home in Wata Moseitbeh for a school bus at around 7 a.m., when four unidentified armed gunmen in a Nissan Sunny pulled up and kidnapped him, according to security sources.
The sources said the call was placed from a pay phone in the area of Shoueifat-Hay al-Sellom. It was followed by two similar calls – one from the southern suburb area near Rasul al-Azam Hospital and the other near a branch of KFC on the main highway leading to Beirut airport.
During the last two calls, the boy’s father, Nibal Awada, tried to persuade the kidnappers to reduce the ransom, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They said Awada told the kidnappers he could only secure $50,000.
The kidnappers have not yet responded to Awada’s offer.
The sources said the calls to Awada’s phone’s home were recorded.
Police are using the recordings to track down the kidnappers, the sources added.
