A group of Italian fishermen who were detained in eastern Libya for over 100 days has been freed after Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte and foreign minister Luigi Di Maio flew to Benghazi and held talks with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, Di Maio stated on Thursday.
Our fishermen are free. In a few hours they will be able to hug their families and loved ones again. Thanks to AISE (Italy’s external intelligence and security agency) and to all the diplomatic corps who worked to bring them home," Di Maio wrote on Facebook.
"In a few hours they will be able to hug their families and their loved ones again."
The Italian government will continue to "strongly support" the stabilising of Libya," Di Maio said.
The 18 fishermen from Sicily's Mazara del Vallo fleet were held in Benghasi after local security forces intercepted their boats off Libya's coast on 1 September for allegedly entering the country's waters.
Haftar reportedly wanted to exchange the fishermen for four Libyan footballers doing jail time in Italy after being convicted of human trafficking.
