BEIRUT: Armed men intercepted a car and snatched a leading businessman at gunpoint Wednesday near CIS College in Beirut’s southern suburb of Ghadir, security sources said.

The sources, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the abduction took place at 5:00 a.m.

They said gunmen in a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW with tinted windows intercepted a silver Nissan, grabbed businessman Mohammad Hussein Nizar al-Husseini and took him to an unknown destination.

Husseini’s car was found abandoned in the driveway of a nearby apartment building.

Police arrived at the scene and dusted the Nissan for fingerprints while security forces hunted for the kidnappers.