EGYPT-ISLAMIC STATE/HOSTAGE-FAMILY As deadline looms, family of Croatian hostage in Egypt pray for his release

Record ID: 144796

  • Title: EGYPT-ISLAMIC STATE/HOSTAGE-FAMILY As deadline looms, family of Croatian hostage in Egypt pray for his release
  • Date: 7th August 2015
  • Summary: VRPOLJE, CROATIA (AUGUST 7, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF KIDNAPPED TOMISLAV SALOPEK'S FAMILY HOUSE SHUT BLINDS ON WINDOWS OF HOUSE TWO MEN IN BACKYARD OF HOUSE PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET EXTERIOR OF VILLAGE CHURCH CHURCH WINDOW WITH CROSS MASS IN CHURCH PEOPLE SITTING IN CHURCH, PRAYING FOUR WOMEN IN CHURCH SITTING, PRAYING STREET SCENE OUTSIDE CHURCH (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian)
  • Embargoed: 22nd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Croatia
  • Country: Croatia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAHHRWPUVFK9F883C4VAUMZ89G
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Villagers in the home town of a Croatian man kidnapped by an Islamic State affiliate in Egypt prayed in hope of his release on Friday (August 7).
    Thirty-year-old Tomislav Salopek, who works in Egypt for a French company which specialises in oil and gas geology, was shown in a video released online by an Islamic State affiliate on Wednesday (August 5).
    Salopek was kidnapped on July 22 while travelling to Cairo. In the video the group said they would kill him in 48-hours if Muslim women in Egyptian jails were not freed.
    Although the deadline set by the group expired on Friday afternoon, there was still no news of his fate by late Friday evening.
    Village locals willing to talk to reporters said they were shocked with the kidnapping, and some of them attended prayers in the local church in hopes he would be released.
    "Only God can save this now. Only he can prevent their wickedness - by saving those women, to have them released from prison - and also to save him (Tomislav Salopek) because he is innocent," said Katica, an elderly resident of Vrpolje, a small town in eastern Croatia where Salopek's family resides.
    The Croatian Foreign Minister and Salopek's wife and sister were all flown to Cairo on Thursday (August 6) to assist in securing Salopek's release.
    Salopek is held by Sinai Province, an Islamist group which changed its name from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis after it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist movement.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register