Kidnapped engineers freed in Libya, as militias battle near Tripoli

Two European engineers kidnapped in north-west Libya over the weekend were released on Monday, although a third man remains in captivity amid continuing attempts to have him freed.

Bosnian Petar Matic, Macedonian Miljazin Gafuri and Italian Marco Vallisay went missing on Saturday, presumed kidnapped when their vehicle was found abandoned in the port city of Zuwara west of the capital Tripoli.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said on Monday the Bosnian and Macedonian had been released and brought to their embassy in Zuwara.

The three men were working for Italian construction company Piacentini Costruzioni on the modernisation of the port at Zuwara, a project worth some $50 million.

Rome will continue with “all activities…to reach as soon as possible a positive solution for our compatriot,” the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Kidnappings have become commonplace in Libya since the bloody overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2012, with heavily armed militias regularly abducting diplomats and foreign workers as a bargaining chip to have Libyans released who are imprisoned overseas.

Previous abductions this year saw a Tunisian diplomat and fellow embassy staffer, as well as the Jordanian ambassador to Libya, abducted in separate attacks. The Tunisians were released last month after several months in captivity, while the ambassador was freed after a month in exchange for the release of a convicted Libyan militant in Jordan.

The government has struggled to establish its authority and disarm the militias, who proved crucial in the ousting of Gaddafi but are now engaged in a battle for supremacy among divergent political interests. Tensions were raised higher over the weekend after fighting broke out between rival militias near Tripoli, with negotiations ongoing to find a peace agreement.

Elders from Zintan and Janzour, situated south and west of Tripoli respectively, met on Monday to discuss a truce between their militias after two days of intermittent fighting in areas west of the capital.

Clashes broke out on Saturday morning after Zintani forces, working on behalf of the Ministry of Interior, stopped a commander from the Fursan Janzour Brigade (Knights of Janzour) at a checkpoint.

The Zintanis said the commander had been stopped because he was carrying a gun and his car had darkened windows and no registration plates, according to local daily Libya Herald.

A statement from Fursan Janzour, however, said their commander did in fact have registration papers and that members of the Zintani Sawaq Brigade had accused him of stealing a gun and arrested him roughly, which then prompted running gun battles between the rival forces.

Although fighting quieted down by mid-morning on Saturday, “when they [the militiamen] decided it was time to go to bed” according to a local who spoke to the Herald, heavy clashes broke out overnight on the main coastal road. It carried on for several hours and involved heavy weaponry, although there were no reports of any casualties or injuries.

While the clashes appear to have broken out as a result of a petty dispute, some say there is a deeper meaning to tensions between the groups, although the details of this are not immediately clear. Calm reigned on Monday afternoon, however, although elders from the respective towns continue to seek out a peace deal.