By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 29 September 2014:
Militants in Ajdabiya have detained up to 70 lorries and their drivers from Egypt’s Gharbia . . .[restrict]governate in an effort to pressure the Egyptian government to release a local man, Mohamed Salama, who is standing trial in Egypt.
The “head” of the truck drivers, Gamal Oun, has also demanded that the Egyptian government intervene to secure their release.
According to the head of national security in Ajdabiya, local elders from the town have attempted to mediate the drivers’ release, but the militants refused to discuss the situation beyond saying that the Egyptian drivers would be released only when Salama was exonerated and set free.
Salama and possibly others are being detained in Egypt for alleged involvement in the smuggling of weapons and firearms across the Libyan-Egyptian border.
Egyptian authorities re-opened the Salloum border crossing in August to allow the movement of goods from Egypt to Libya.
Aware of the risk involved on the roads in eastern Libya, Libyan authorities had required Egyptian drivers to sign statements claiming responsibility for their own safety and the safety of their goods if they chose to travel beyond Tobruk. [/restrict]
