BEIRUT: A Lebanese businessman was abducted by unknown individuals in Bekaa’s Talia Valley Wednesday, a security source told The Daily Star.Ahmad Zeidan, the CEO of the country’s largest dairy farm, was taken from his car by masked gunmen shortly before 11 a.m. According to the security source, at least three gunmen drove away from the area in a black Jeep Cherokee.

Zeidan, known for being the founder of Liban Lait, was in a Volkswagen Touareg on his way along with his personal driver from the area of Housh Snaid to the dairy’s factory in Talia.

The security source said that the driver was being questioned over the kidnapping as he had been left unharmed in the car when Zeidan was taken.

Internal Security Forces personnel who arrived to the area shortly after the kidnapping collected fingerprints from Zeidan’s SUV and have launched an investigation into the incident.

Zeidan’s driver, identified as Wissam Wafiq Habbal, told investigators that he saw at least three masked men approach their Volkswagen some 200 meters before the Liban Lait factory.

The Bekaa has seen a spike in crime in recent years, including kidnappings carried out by crime rings. Seven Estonian cyclists were abducted in March and were freed on an empty Bekaa road after being held for four months in captivity.

A number of Syrian dissidents who fled to Lebanon in the past nine months are suspected to have been kidnapped. In October ISF head, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, said there was evidence that Shibli Aisamy, an 86-year-old Syrian dissident who vanished in May from Aley, and brothers from the Jasem family were kidnapped by ISF personnel working at the Syrian Embassy in Beirut.

According to the sources, however, Zeidan’s abduction is likely not politically motivated and the investigators are now trying to determine whether Zeidan was taken as a result of personal financial disputes.

“If the kidnapping is a result of a financial dispute, authorities are expecting that abductors will make contact for a possible ransom,” the source said.

Habbal, 38, also told investigators that the masked gunmen were “professionals” and wore black jackets, but he was unable to provide descriptions of the kidnappers’ faces.

Although the number of kidnappings has increased in Lebanon, officials in the government have repeatedly said the security situation in the country is stable.

Rifi has reiterated that abductors of Lebanese and Syrians in Lebanon will ultimately be brought to justice.