Two Tunisian diplomats, Mohamed Ben Cheikh and Laaroussi Gontnassi, who were kidnapped in Libya a few months ago, were released and arrived in Tunis on late Sunday, Tunisian official news agency TAP reported.
They were received at the airport by Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki, National Constituent Assembly President Mustapha Ben Jaafar, Interim Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi and their relatives.
“We lived through a very difficult period and the detention conditions were precarious,” Gontassi told the media, adding that they had been treated well and had not been harmed.
Gontassi said he didn’t know about the circumstances of their release, adding that they knew of it on the same day.
For his part, Marzouki said “Tunisia never abandons” its people in such circumstances, expressing thanks to the Libyan authorities for their part in settling the issue. “We did not give in to pressure,” Marzouki said, to anything that would jeopardize Tunisia’s sovereignty, adding that “we have learned a lot from this ordeal.”
Source: QNA