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By Maha Suliman.
Benghazi, 7 November 2014:
A Ukrainian who worked at Hawari Hospital and his Ukrainian wife, have been freed . . .[restrict]along with four other healthcare workers after being held captive for over a month in Benghazi.
Hani Al-Araibi, the spokesman for the hospital, told the Libya Herald that all six of the hostages were safe and in good health but could give no further details of their release or capture.
Sergei and Nataliya Bugatchev disappeared on 18 September and were believed to have been seized by militants.
At the time of their kidnapping the Ministry of Health noted that Bugatchev had worked “with devotion and dedication” in support of the revolution. Kidnapping him, it said, would damage Libya’s efforts to build solid relations with the rest of the world and further frighten off foreign nationals still working in the Libyan health sector.
The four other freed healthcare workers: Dr. Mohammed Al-Jazwi an X-ray specialist, nurse Mohammed Al-Ashour Al-Abeidi and dialysis technicians Mohammed Hamid Al-Agouri and Mufteh Al-Faitouri went missing three days ago.
Hawari hospital has, in recent months, been under the protection and control of Ansar Al-Sharia. Last week it was reported that two Indian nurses had appealed to their families asking for help in returning home. They said that threats of violence had been used to force them to treat and care for Ansar Al-Sharia militants.
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