By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 20 October 2103:
Egyptians held hostage by gunmen on the road from Ajdabiya to Tobruk have been freed . . .[restrict]and have headed home to Egypt.
The news was announced in Tripoli this afternoon by the Egyptian ambassador, Mohamed Abu Bakr. He said that they had been released following negotiations involving the embassy, unnamed tribes in eastern Libya who acted as mediators, and the abductors.
According to the Egyptians, the gunmen had demanded the handover of 12 Libyans jailed in Egypt for smuggling arms into the country.
The identity of the abductors has not been divulged. However, sources in Ajdabiya implicated Islamist militiamen who were involved in Friday’s clashes in Benghazi.
The number of Egyptians held and now freed is still unclear. The figure constantly grew from the moment the news of their seizure was announced yesterday. First it was 20, then 50, then 70. Later yesterday, a man named as Ahmed Al-Libi was quoted in the Egyptian press saying he held 80 Egyptians.
The Egyptian embassy in Tripoli today has said simply that 80 trucks and 12 buses with Egyptians had been released – the implication being that those seized and now freed were truck and bus drivers. However, Libyan officials are reported saying that 200 Egyptians were freed.
In his statement today, Ambassador Abu Bakr said that the Egyptians were in good health and had not been ill-treated by their captors. He praised the Libyan authorities for their help, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which, he said, had been in contact with the embassy around the clock to end the crisis. He also thanked tribal leaders in central and eastern Libya for their help in securing his countrymen’s release.
He added that the families of the Libyans jailed in Egypt had demanded that the 12 be transferred to jails in Libya.
The abduction had galvanised the Egyptian authorities into action and has been front page news in the Egyptian media. The Egyptian embassy in Tripoli and its Consulate-General in Benghazi had set up crisis rooms to resolve the crisis.
Before the release was announced, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had said that Egypt held the Libyan authorities responsible for the safety of the Egyptians and ensuring their return home.
According to Egyptian daily, Al-Youm Al-Sabaa, families of many of the Egyptian truck drivers headed to the border town of Salloum to welcome them home. [/restrict]
