The president of the Libyan Olympic Committee has been kidnapped, the committee said Monday.

Ahmad Nabil al-Alam was taken in central Tripoli on Sunday, the organization said.

He was followed by two vehicles and then seized by unidentified gunmen around 4 p.m., the committee said.

The identity and motive of the kidnappers were not immediately known.

Al-Alam is supposed to head the Libyan delegation in London for the Olympic games, which begin next week.

The committee issued a statement saying the “Libyan sports family” condemns “this heinous crime.” It described al-Alam as a “man who greatly contributed to the” revolution that led to strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s ouster last year. Al-Alam “bore arms to defend its principles until Libya was liberated from the tyranny,” the statement said.

The committee called on officials in the interim government and National Transitional Council “to fulfill their duty in finding out the fate of this man and free him from the kidnappers by taking all necessary measures to achieve that, and to put an end to such irresponsible acts that only mean chaos, an attack on public freedoms and extrajudicial detention.”