Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis and Tripoli, 14 October 2015:
The fate of scores of Tunisian hostages and of the mayor of Sabratha, whose . . .[restrict]arrest in Tunis triggered their kidnapping, remains unclear this evening.
Reports this morning that the mayor, Hassen Dhawadi, detained by Tunisian police on Saturday at Tunis airport had been released were denied by the Sabratha Media Centre later in the day.
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry however said that “dozens” of seized Tunisians had been set free today, after “high-level contacts with the authorities in Libya”, which is taken to be a reference to the Libya Dawn government to which Sabratha is allied.
A Tunisian security source quoted by Reuters mentioned the released of 55 Tunisians. However, it was unclear if this perhaps referred to the 57 taken off a Tripoli-bound bus on Tuesday and then very quickly released.
The Tunisian authorities and media have been markedly reluctant to comment on the whole incident. Officials have given no reason for Dhawadi’s detention.
Sabratha‘s town council said that their mayor had been in Tunis on an “official UN assignment”. The council also called for the release of another man, Al-Azhar Al-Magouri, who it said had been arrested in Tunisia on 11 September. It gave no details of Magouri nor why and where he was arrested. [/restrict]
