In September 2014, Tunisian journalist Nazir Katari and his colleague, Sufian Shawarbi, disappeared somewhere near the city of Ajdabiya in Libya. Katari’s parents, Sami and Sounia Rajab, just traveled to Libya to investigate their son’s disappearance and seek answers from Libyan officials.

In September 2014, Tunisian journalist Nazir Katari and his colleague, Sufian Shawarbi, disappeared somewhere near the city of Ajdabiya in Libya. Katari’s parents, Sami and Sounia Rajab, just traveled to Libya to investigate their son’s disappearance and seek answers from Libyan officials.

The Kataris arrived at Al Abraq International Airport in Libya on August 22, before heading east towards Ajdabiya. Nazir was in Ajdabiya when his parents last heard from him two years ago. The case has now been taken up by civil society organisation Gathering of the Martyrs Squares of Jebel Akhdar (GMSJA), who facilitated a number of meetings for the Kataris with members of the Libyan Interim Government. Our correspondent spoke to the grieving father before he and his wife returned to Tunis.

Why have you personally come to Libya? Are there not institutions investigating the disappearance of Nazir and Sufian?

Nazir and Sufian came to Libya to cover a story and then they were arrested by the Oil Facility Guard Service (OFGS) on September 3, 2014. We have contacted the OFGS and provided it with documents proving that they are journalists who came on a business trip. The OFGS says it released them.

My last phone call to Nazir and Sufian was on September 8, 2014. They told me they were going to take a taxi from Ajdabiya to Tobruk Airport, but then they disappeared.

We had already contacted the Tunisian government and staged protests for two years. Then, my wife and I decided to come to Bayda.

Did you communicate with the Libyan Embassy in Tunisia at the time?

Yes, we did. We staged a sit in and then the charge d’affaires of the embassy received us, but his response was cold. “Had they visited me before they traveled to Libya, I would have advised them otherwise,” he told us.

We also approached the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the president and the prime minister, but we have so far received no answers.

We have come to Bayda and found it to be a safe place. The people are good and hospitable. I would like to thank the GMSJA, particularly Dr. Walid Fkereen and his colleagues for the warm reception and adoption of our case.

What steps have you taken since you arrived in Libya?

We visited Mayor of Ajdabiya and the brother of Ibrahim Jadran – head of the OFGS – Salem Jadran in his house. He told us the same things he said to us before in Tunisia: “The OFGS released Nazir and Sufian and then the Derna Militias kidnapped them while they were in a taxi heading towards Tobruk.”

Jadran then introduced us to the taxi driver. We are now at square one, but all indicators suggest they are still alive.

Was your meeting with Jadran back in Tunisia by chance or arranged?

Finding my son has become my obsession day and night. Friends of mine told me Jadran was in Tunis in February 2015. I met him in the Africa Hotel for four or five minutes and he told me the same answer we heard from him in the past few days at his house.

In your last meeting with him, did Jadran give you evidence proving that Nazir and Sufian left Ajdabiya or any other documents pertaining to the case?

He told us how the OFGS arrested and released them and then provided them with accommodation. He also gave us the OFGS’ arresting report in addition to an acquittal report signed by Nazir and Sufian in which they say they were not tortured and were treated well and that they received their belongings.

Dr. Fkereen says you were able to visit the place where Nazir and Sufian stayed in Ajdabiya. How was it? Was it a place of residence or of detention?

No comment.

Did you meet Ibrahim Jadran in his brother’s house?

No, we did not. We intended to meet him, but they told us he was outside Ajdabiya. I call on the Jadrans to help us by providing more information. They introduced us to the taxi driver whom they say was driving Nazi and Sufian before ISIS kidnapped them.

How was your meeting with the head of the interim Libyan government Abdullah al-Thani?

It was fruitful. We discussed the case of Nazir and Sufian with al-Thani in the presence of the Minister of Justice Munir Assr, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice for Human Rights Sahar Banon and Dr. Fkereen as a representative of the Libyan civil society.

Did you communicate with any other Libyan ministries?

We sent an appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we are waiting for their response.

Are you going to visit Libya again?

Allah willing.