Unidentified gunmen kidnapped on Saturday a North Korean doctor, along with his wife, east of the Libyan city of Sirte.

The physician, 60, and his wife were in a car heading for the capital Tripoli from their hospital in Sirte when they were kidnapped by unknown armed men who released the Libyan driver, a security source said in statements.

The source added that the North Korean Embassy is on permanent contact with authorities to determine the fate of the abducted.