Report: Kidnapped Kuwaiti Released after Family Refuses to Pay Ransom

A Kuwaiti man was briefly kidnapped in the North Metn area by three gunmen disguised as police officers, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

NNA said Moeen Rashad Khorshid was driving his BMW X6 on the road of factories in the town of Mansourieh when three men wearing police jackets intercepted him.

Khorshid claimed they then searched his car and transported him to another vehicle, tying him to the back seat.

Witnesses said a man and a woman were seen in the BMW X6 that was parked in the Ramlet al-Baida area of Beirut.

NNA said the abductors called Khorshid's parents asking for $500,000 but later set the man free in the area of Gallery Semaan when the family refused to pay the ransom.

The agency's version of the story came after media reports said his parents reported him missing but Khorshid was later found at the Marriot Hotel in Beirut where he had been staying.