No ransom paid for Italian hostages freed in Libya: FM

Italy did not paid any ransom for the two hostages recently freed in Libya, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday.

"I want to make clear that no ransom has been paid," Gentiloni said addressing the Italian senate on the issue.

The minister added no elements in the ongoing investigation would link the abduction to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, or Daesh, operating in the North African country.

Gino Pollicardo, 55, and Filippo Calcagno, 65, were freed on March 4 near Sabratha, in northwest Libya.

The two men had been kidnapped with two other Italian colleagues on July 19 last year, near the industrial complex owned by Italy's energy giant ENI in the western port of Mellitah.

All four were technicians working for the Bonatti construction company in the country.

The other two hostages, Salvatore Failla and Fausto Piano, were killed on March 2 during a shootout near Sabratha, the foreign minister confirmed.

The Italian foreign minister said Pollicardo and Calcagno freed themselves after being left alone by their kidnappers, and succeeded in getting in contact with Libyan authorities in Tripoli and Italian authorities.

The four Italians were held captive for over seven months.

Gentiloni said Italy would consider a possible intervention in war-torn Libya only "if and when possible, at the request of a legitimate government." Endit