Kidnapped Libyan Parliament member freed

Tripoli: A Libyan lawmaker and a number of his escorts were released after being kidnapped in Tripoli by an armed group, a Parliament member revealed.

Abdassalam Al-Morabit and his escorts were kidnapped by a militia allied with the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli, while they were working in a bank to provide liquidity to citizens in the south, said Parliament member Mesbah Ouhida, Xinhua news agency reported. They were released on Friday.

Ouhida urged the government and “the wise people to immediately interfere to release all southern detainees in the prisons of darkness”, adding that the government held “full responsibility for their safety”.

Ouhida also warned of retaliation to similar kidnappings, enforced disappearances and illegal arrests.

Libya has been suffering a security vacuum and chaos since the fall of former leader Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

–IANS