By Ivan Watson and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- One of the surviving brothers of Anwar Sadat tells CNN his grandniece was snatched
- Kidnapping is extremely rare in Egypt
- The event will likely raise fears in a country struggling with instability
Cairo (CNN) — Kidnappers seized a 14-year-old girl who is a descendant of assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, a relative said Sunday.
Zeina Sadat was on her way to school in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Heliopolis on Sunday when at least two men stopped the car in which she was traveling and beat up her driver, said her great-uncle Zein Sadat, who is one of the slain president’s surviving brothers.
Sadat said the kidnappers had been in telephone contact with Zeina’s father, and had demanded a ransom of 5 million Egyptian pounds (some $840,000) for her safe return.
Kidnapping is extremely rare in Egypt. And the targeting of a prominent political family is likely to raise fears in a country struggling with instability after the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak in early February.
Zein Sadat denied there were political motives for the kidnapping, saying the suspects appeared “unprofessional.”
“We are in a crisis as a family,” he said. “We are worried they will kill the girl.”
Sadat said Egyptian security forces are working closely with his family to bring the girl home.
Sitting in his living room a few yards from a portrait of his assassinated brother, Sadat said, “in my heart I am sure that God will save this girl because she is innocent.”
Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981.
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Grandneice of slain Egyptian president is kidnapped, family says