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Libya deputy FM freed from captivity

Xinhua, January 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan al-Saghir was freed on Monday after being held for 24 hours by unknown gunmen, according to sources from Libya's foreign ministry.

Al-Saghir was "fine and on his way back to his residence in Baida" and "will communicate with media later," one source said.

A government official said the foreign ministry will issue a statement later in the day.

Al-Saghir was abducted on Sunday in his hotel room in the eastern city of Beida. The hotel CCTV showed that he was forced by a group of armed men in civilian clothes into a dark car.

Al-Saghir was a diplomat before being appointed as a member of the National Transitional Council, the de facto government of Libya during the 2011 civil war which toppled former strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

The North African country has been plagued by kidnappings and assassinations since the downfall of Gaddafi's government. The recent fightings between Islamist groups and pro-secular militia have severely aggravated the security situation.

Libya's former prime minister Ali Zeidan and a former deputy prime minister, Abu Shagor, had both been abducted by gunmen, one in 2013, and the other in 2014. There were subsequently released. Endit