By Hadi Fornaji.
Tripoli, 16 July:
Yusuf Baadi and Abdul Qader Fusuq were reuinted with their families in Misrata this afternoon, more that . . .[restrict]one week after their capture in Bani Walid.
“They flew in from Jadu by helicopter and have received a wonderful reception”, Taher Zaroog, a Misratan journalist who has been following the case closely, told the Libya Herald.
The two were freed from Bani Walid yesterday and transferred to Jadu, after a delegation from the town succeeded in negotiating their release.
“I’m so glad my son has been released”, said Salem Baadi, Yusuf’s father, but we cannot truly celebrate his return whilst the others remain in custody.”
The others to which Mr Baadi was referring are two members of the Libya Shield Brigade and a third Misratan journalist who were captured in Bani Walid after their vehicle came under attack on Thursday.
The two shield members, Omran Shaban and Mohammed Al-Ouyb, were taken to hospital in Bani Walid where they are now receiving treatment. Shaban is said to have taken a bullet to the neck.
The journalist, Abdul Aziz Harous, is not believed to have been wounded and is being held separately.
This afternoon, the Misrata Local Council together with other local leaders issued a statement thanking the Jadu delegation for succeeding in releasing Baadi and Fusuq and calling for the release of the other men.
“We are very glad the two journalists have been released, and we appreciate the work of the the wise men from the Nafusa Mountains”, the statement said. “We thank them for their efforts and we asking them to complete their work to release the others”.
In return for the journalists’ freedom it has been agreed that a number detainees from Bani Walid being held in Misrata will now also be released.
Most of these are allegedly former Qaddafi loyalists captured either during or in the aftermath of the revolution, although the Misratan authorities have said nobody facing charges of criminal activity will be liberated.
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