BBC Online :
Jordan’s ambassador to Libya has been freed after being abducted by gunmen in the capital, Tripoli, last month.
Fawaz al-Itan was released unharmed and was on his way home on Tuesday, Jordanian officials said.
The kidnappers had reportedly demanded the release of a Libyan Islamist militant in exchange, but it is unclear whether this was granted. Diplomats have been the targets of a number of abductions in Libya in recent months amid continuing instability.
The central government has struggled to assert its authority over the armed
groups and tribesmen who helped end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule in 2011.
Itan was kidnapped in the Libyan capital on 15 April when masked gunmen shot at his car, wounding the driver.
Libyan state media quoted Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, as saying he was already on his way back to his homeland after his release on Tuesday.
“The ambassador is doing well and he is now making his way back to his country,” Judeh was quoted as saying.
He gave no further details about the circumstances of the release.
Investigators earlier said the kidnappers had demanded the return of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan militant who was jailed for life in 2007 for plotting to blow up an airport in Jordan.
There were conflicting reports about whether this demand had been met.
Most of the targets of abductions since the revolution have been Libyan officials, including senior members of the government and their families. However, in January gunmen detained six Egyptian diplomats and embassy employees for a few days following the arrest of a Libyan militia commander in Egypt.
There have also been attacks on Westerners. In January, the bodies of a British man and a woman from New Zealand were discovered near the coastal area of Mellitah, in the west of the country, while an American teacher was shot dead in the eastern city of Benghazi in December.
Jordan’s ambassador to Libya has been freed after being abducted by gunmen in the capital, Tripoli, last month.
Fawaz al-Itan was released unharmed and was on his way home on Tuesday, Jordanian officials said.
The kidnappers had reportedly demanded the release of a Libyan Islamist militant in exchange, but it is unclear whether this was granted. Diplomats have been the targets of a number of abductions in Libya in recent months amid continuing instability.
The central government has struggled to assert its authority over the armed
groups and tribesmen who helped end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule in 2011.
Itan was kidnapped in the Libyan capital on 15 April when masked gunmen shot at his car, wounding the driver.
Libyan state media quoted Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, as saying he was already on his way back to his homeland after his release on Tuesday.
“The ambassador is doing well and he is now making his way back to his country,” Judeh was quoted as saying.
He gave no further details about the circumstances of the release.
Investigators earlier said the kidnappers had demanded the return of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan militant who was jailed for life in 2007 for plotting to blow up an airport in Jordan.
There were conflicting reports about whether this demand had been met.
Most of the targets of abductions since the revolution have been Libyan officials, including senior members of the government and their families. However, in January gunmen detained six Egyptian diplomats and embassy employees for a few days following the arrest of a Libyan militia commander in Egypt.
There have also been attacks on Westerners. In January, the bodies of a British man and a woman from New Zealand were discovered near the coastal area of Mellitah, in the west of the country, while an American teacher was shot dead in the eastern city of Benghazi in December.
