Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya freed: Tribal elder

Thirteen Egyptian Christians held in Libya have been freed, a tribal leader said on Monday after government sources reported they had been abducted by Islamist militants in the coastal city of Sirte.

However, Muftah Marzuq, head of Sirte’s council of elders, insisted that the 13 had not been kidnapped, but had instead been detained by people smugglers.

"The Egyptians were held by a group that deals in illegal people smuggling, because of a dispute involving money and transportation to the Harawa region east of Sirte," Marzuq said.

News of their disappearance emerged on Saturday when it was reported that armed men had stormed a residential compound in Sirte, known to house foreign workers, and then separated the Christians from the Muslims before binding their hands and bundling them away.

A source close to the Tobruk-based government subsequently accused Ansar al-Sharia, a militant group that until recently controlled Libya’s second city Benghazi, of having carried out the attack.

The group - which was added to the UN terror list last month over links to al-Qaeda and for running Islamic State group training camps - also controls much of Sirte.

The source further added that seven other Egyptian Christians had also been seized over the past few days in Libya.

After the news broke though, Marzuq said Sirte city elders were able to negotiate the release of the 13, without giving further details but stressing that Ansar al-Sharia were not behind the kidnapping that took place in former leader Muammar Gaddafi home town. Marzuq did not mention the other seven.

Thousands of Egyptians work in Libya, mainly in the construction and craft sectors.

They have been targeted as the country has descended into chaos since strongman Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in the 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

In February, the bodies of seven Egyptian Christians who had been shot, were found near Benghazi, with a several other incidents also happening throughout the year. Last month, an Egyptian Coptic Christian couple were murdered and their daughter kidnapped in Sirte in what officials said could have been a religiously motivated attack.