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Libyan gunmen free Tunisian consular workers

Tunisian consulate in Tripoli, Libya

Ten Tunisian diplomatic staff who were kidnapped by gunmen in Libya have been freed, the foreign minister says.

Taieb Bakouch said all the staff were now back in Tunisia, AFP news agency reports.

The BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tunis says some are linking their release to a recent Tunisian court decision to deport a Libyan militia commander.

Walid Qulib is a commander of one of the brigades in the “Libya Dawn” alliance which controls Tripoli.

He was recently arrested in Tunisia on terrorism charges.

The 10 workers were abducted last week from the Tunisian consulate in the capital, Tripoli.

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Libya descended into chaos after the uprising that led to the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

There has been no central government since then, with different militia groups competing for power.

Most countries closed their embassies during the fighting that ensued, but Tunisia has recently sent consular staff back to Tripoli.

The UN is trying to negotiate a political settlement to the crisis in Libya, after insecurity in the capital forced Libya’s internationally recognised parliament and government to relocate to the eastern city of Tobruk.

Libya Dawn last year seized control of Tripoli and surrounding areas.

Written by PH

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