TRIPOLI, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday expressed concerns over the continued abductions, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances of citizens and public figures by various security actors in Libya.
The country's former Finance Minister Faraj Boumtari was reportedly detained at Mitiga Airport and taken to an undisclosed location on Wednesday, while five members of the High Council of State have been reportedly banned from traveling at the same airport on Thursday.
"These acts create a climate of fear, promote tensions between communities and tribes, and have serious implications for the unification of national institutions," the UNSMIL said in a statement.
Such conduct is neither conducive to the holding of transparent and inclusive elections nor national reconciliation, it added.
The UNSMIL called on the Libyan authorities and security entities to release all those arbitrarily detained, ensure independent investigations for all alleged extra-legal detentions and abductions, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
"They must remain calm, maintain restraint and avoid any unilateral actions. Libya cannot afford further division and deterioration," the statement said.
