Security at Al-Abraq Airport arrested Mayor Abdullah Emtoul of Al-Bayda, the Municipal Council of Al-Bayda has confirmed.
In a Facebook statement Saturday, the council said the mayor was leaving for a working trip when the security at the city's airport took him to an unknown destination, deeming the act "a threat to social peace."
Mayor Emtoul was previously kidnapped in mid-March before the pressure of his supporters forced his kidnappers to set him free.
Emtoul, the mayor of one of the key cities in the east, was appointed by the Tripoli-based government, a rival to the one in the east run by Fathi Bashagha.
His assignment saw controversy after Bashagha's government named a steering committee to act as mayor of the city.
In Emtoul's previous detention, angry protesters stormed the headquarters of the municipal council, demanding his release and urgent municipal elections.
In the same context, candidates for the municipal elections of Al-Bayda refused in a statement Friday the decision of the eastern authorities to assign a steering council to run the city, calling for urgent elections and the preservation of the social fabric.
