Saudi Arabia: Two Lebanese nationals disappeared since 3 years

On his way back home to Tripoli from the Omra pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Bassam Ismail Hamoud, a 50 year old independent businessman, was arrested by Saudi Intelligence services at Jeddah airport on 22 October 2006. Since his disappearance his family has contacted the Lebanese consulate in Jeddah on several occasions, however with no results. His whereabouts remain unknown. This marks nearly four years since his disappearance.

In a similar, more recent case, Bilal Abu Haikal, 22, a student in industrial design at the Hariri Canadian University in Kfarfalous, southern Lebanon, was arrested at Riyadh airport as he was disembarking his flight from Beirut on 18 July 2009. According to sources, government forces are responsible for his disappearance. His family has had no news of him since his arrests; Saudi authorities have neither denied nor confirmed his detention.

Alkarama will continue to follow these cases and inform the UN and their families of any developments.