RIYADH: A Saudi family was forced to pay a SR400,000 ransom to a Syrian gang that kidnapped a young Saudi who traveled to Syria last month for medical treatment, according to his family. When the man arrived in Damascus, he rented an apartment and started his therapeutic program before being kidnapped by an 18-man gang, his family said. His cousin, Ateeq Al-Enezi, said they lost contact with the young man and later heard from someone who said they had kidnapped him. “We received a call from an unknown number,” Al-Enezi said. “A Syrian man told us that they were holding him and demanded a ransom of SR400,000.” Al-Enezi said the family informed security authorities in the Kingdom and the Saudi Embassy in Damascus before they traveled to Syria. “The kidnappers had threatened to kill him if we reported the incident to the Syrian security authorities,” he said. The case has been reported to authorities in Tabuk Emirate and arrangements have been made with Syrian police to pursue the kidnappers.
