Tripoli, 31 August:
The Egyptian Embassy in Tripoli has negotiated the release of 200 Egyptians detained in Libya, diplomatic sources told the . . .[restrict]Egyptian state news agency MENA on Thursday.
The men were arrested when militia forces intervened in a brawl between Egyptian workers at the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli on Tuesday, it is understood that 11 Egyptians were injured in the incident.
A sit-in protest has been staged in the Egyptian village of Salam, in the province of Fayoum, home to 90 of the men. One protestor told MENA they would not leave until all the men were released.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdy denied that Egyptians were being unfairly targeted in Libya. He said that cooperation between Egyptian Ambassador Hesham Abdel Wahab and the Libyan authorities had managed to prevent the detained Egyptians from being deported.
Earlier reports had suggested that 400 Egyptians had been detained and that there had been fatalities. However, a statement from the Egyptian Embassy dismissed both these rumours. [/restrict]
