By Maha Sulaiman.
Benghazi, 14 November 2014:
Nine Turkish citizens who were arrested two weeks ago when the army entered Benghazi’s Tabalino district . . .[restrict]have been released into the care of the government in Beida ahead of being flown home to Turkey.
According to Mohamed Hejazi, the spokesman for Operation Dignity, the army initially thought that the Turks were supporters of Ansar Al-Sharia because Turkish citizens in the east had been told to leave in June by Khalifa Haftar (although Hafter then announced that he did not intend that all Turks should go).
However, investigations had shown that the men were restaurant workers who had been left to fend for themselves by their employer when the fighting started.
The nine were handed over to the Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Allabad and the Minister of Health Reda Al-Menshawi. [/restrict]
