COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Libyan uprising against Moammar Gadahfi is personal for a Cobb County man.
Ahmed Almegaryaf was born in Libya, but his family fled to Atlanta more than 20 years ago.
Almegaryf told Channel 2's Diana Davis that's when his father, a Libyan freedom fighter, was blindfolded and kidnapped by Gadhfi loyalists and thrown into a Tripoli prison.
"They basically took him and we were never to see him again," said Almegaryf.
In the years since, their family has received only three letters from Izzat Almegaryf, all smuggled out of the notorious Tripoli prison Abu-Salim.
Nearly 1,300 prisoners there were massacred there in 1996. The last word from his father was one year before the killings. "I'm not sure if he's dead or alive honestly," said Almegaryf.
"Sometimes I tell myself he's not alive just so my hopes and dreams don't get shattered of seeing him again."
One letter smuggled out of the prison in 1993 was written to Izzat Almegaryf's three sons, all young boys at the time. It read: "My dear three musketeers. You are my wealth for the future. You are my dreams for a better future for all of us. I cannot express to you how much I miss you for writing it won't do it justice."
The family received just one more letter.
Ahmed knows the odds of a reunion with his father one day are not good. Still he hopes.
Almegaryaf told Davis he hopes Gadafhi will live to stand trial for crimes against the people of Libya and those around the world.
"Everything he's ever done is inexcusable and I think this is his time. Without Gadhafi, the whole world is a safer place," says Almegaryf.
If Gadhafi is brought down, Almegaryf told Davis he will travel to Libya in hopes of finding his father or learning his fate after so many years.
WSBTV
