By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 18 June 2015:
All ten members of the Tunisian consular staff kidnapped in Tripoli last week are now . . .[restrict]reported to have been freed.
Three were let go earlier this week but the rest were released early this morning, Tunisian human rights expert Mustapha Abdelkebir was quoted by the Tunisian news agency TAP as saying.
“The Tunisian hostages’ freedom came as the result of a marathon of negotiations between Tunisians and Libyans,” he said, adding that the consular members had since contacted their families to reassure them.
The ten were seized a week ago allegedly by members of the Medfaiyah Wal-Sewarigh (“Artillery and Missiles”) Brigade after a Tunisian judge refused to free one of its commanders, Walid Al-Gleib, arrested in Tunisia last month and charged with undisclosed terrorist offences. The kidnappers said that the Tunisians would be released only when Gleib was free, a demand repeated two days ago by the head of Tripoli’s Diplomatic Police, Faraj Swehli.
According to Gleib’s lawyer, all changes against him have now been dropped and he has been freed. His release, however, was denied by others saying that, despite a release order, he was still in jail because documents to hand him over to the Libyan authorities required the personal signature of the Tunisian president.
The fate of eight other Tunisians seized in Tripoli last week is unknown. However, it is reported that three others, abducted in Khoms, have also now been let go. [/restrict]
