A MAN WHO WAS MISSING SINCE 1996 WAS FOUND CAPTIVE AT NEIGHBOUR’S UNDERGROUND HOLE IN ALGERIA.
“Omar vanished during the decade-long Algerian civil war of 1998, leading his family to assume that he was killed in the conflict between the North African nation's government and various Islamist rebel groups.
The truth was much closer to home: Now aged 45, he was found amid haystacks in a stable on May 12 - just 200 yards away from his family's home in the city of Djelfa.
The discovery came after the captor's brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly due to an inheritance dispute. Reports said the post revealed the identity of the victim and his location, and prompted Omar's family to storm the residence.
The alleged culprit, a 61-year-old doorman working in the nearby town of El Guedid, was taken into custody after attempting to flee, the Algerian Ministry of Justice said.
Algerian media reported that the victim said he had been unable to call out for help 'because of a spell that his captor had cast on him'.
Images have since been circulated of the bearded man emerging from the hole, thought to be a sheep pen, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children before he disappeared.
Reports from Algerian newspaper El Khabar suggest the dog pined for him close to the spot where he was being held, having recognised his smell. It was alleged in its report that the captor poisoned the dog to ward the family off.
A search was launched for Omar in 1998 after he went missing while on his way to a vocational school.
According to the newspaper, the inheritance dispute prompted the family to storm the house in a search for Omar. When they found him, his alleged captor attempted to flee before being restrained and then arrested.
Tragically, Omar's mother died in 2013 without ever knowing the truth of what happened to her son. She had made pleas on television for information about what happened to her son, according to Algerian newspaper L' Expression.
Reports suggest Omar was made aware of his mother's death while in captivity.
A relative said on Facebook: 'Thank god my cousin was found.
'Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations.'”
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