The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced that the six Christian Egyptians who were kidnapped and illegally detained earlier this month in western Libya have been released.
The six men, all relatives from Sohag, were abducted after traveling to Libya in search of work in early February.
The Ministry said the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli had contacted the concerned Libyan authorities to intervene to release the citizens.
It received the families of the abducted more than once in the past weeks, given the priority of the incident and as part of efforts to release them.
The Ministry explained that the six citizens left the country with travel permits that stipulated their presence in the Libyan east without going beyond it to other regions, which the citizens pledged to abide by.
It urged all citizens not to violate travel instructions regarding Libya and to fully adhere to the areas of presence and movement allowed before heading to the country.
The security units will continue to do their best to ensure the safety of all citizens.
The families previously accused a broker who accompanied them on the journey of selling them to a gang.
They feared the incident would be similar to when ISIS killed 21 Copts in Sirte in 2015.
Egyptian lawyer Amir Nassif said the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 15,000 Libyan dinars for each person, saying they suffered from a lack of food and water.
Kidnappings of expatriates are widespread in Libya, and human trafficking gangs are active in several regions of the country. They demand ransoms, resell them, or facilitate their secret transfer to the Libyan coasts ahead of their escape to European shores.
The "Libya Crime Watch" organization said it had followed up on the arbitrary arrest of the six Egyptians since Feb. 04, noting that the families reported they had traveled to Libya via Benina International Airport.
They moved to western Libya before being arrested at a security checkpoint supervised by the "Stability Support Apparatus" of the Libyan Presidential Council and the 55th Infantry battalion of the Ministry of Defense. They were taken to an unknown location.
After communicating with their families, the abductees reported that they were being held in a crowded place and that their captors were asking for a ransom in exchange for their release.
Crime Watch said the Libyan Presidential Council and the government are responsible for the safety and lives of the victims, calling on them to work urgently to release them and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The organization also called on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Independent Fact-Finding Mission in Libya to open an investigation into the violent incidents.
