By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 20 December 2013:
The kidnapped Head of Kikla Local Council, Ibrahim Sghayer, was freed on Wednesday, along with four . . .[restrict]others held for over a week by a gang from Wershefana.
The release came five days after Wershefana Congress Member, Abdulmajid Zantouti – abducted by Kikla locals in a tit-for-tat reaction to the kidnapping – was freed.
Sghayer was released along with the head of Kikla’s Shura Council and three young revolutionary fighters, spokesman for Kikla Local Council, Belgassem Al-Kikli, told the Libya Herald. They were returned to Kikla in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The release, Kikli said, was a result of: “Long and strenuous negotiations with elders of Wershefana, mediation efforts on the part of the General National Congress and constant pressure from Kikla locals on the kidnappers.” He added that politics and the power of guns had also played a part in their release.
Although the two local leaders were returned unscathed, Kikli said, the three young fighters had been beaten. [/restrict]
