Khalifa Haftar's forces abducted last Thursday the Minister of Finance and Planning of the Interim Government of Abdullah Al-Thini, Kamal Al-Hassi, according to sources from east Libya.

Some sources said the reason behind the kidnapping was because Al-Hassi was loyal to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Aqila Saleh and the Head of the Interim Government Abdullah Al-Thini, who had been toppled by Haftar's "popular mandate" announcement last month.

While other sources said the abduction was because of embezzlement as Al-Hassi was arrested on Libya-Egypt border of Imsaad with half a million dollars in his possession.

Reacting to the kidnapping, a number of HoR members in Tobruk issued a statement condemning the "illegal arrest" of Al-Hassi, demanding his immediate release, adding that the arrest was against the law and constitutional declaration, not to mention that the party who executed the arrest was not authorized by law.

"The Minister of Finance was given permission to travel from the Prime Minister and all the accusations against him are untrue. The elected HoR, judiciary and control authority are the ones entitled to intervene if there is anything wrong in what the Minister of Finance has done." The statement reads.