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By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 8 May 2015:
Reports in Egypt that Egyptian forces rescued a group of Ethiopians “kidnapped” in Libya and . . .[restrict]managed to take them to Cairo and then home to Ethiopia appear to be somewhat wide of the mark.
The group arrived on a chartered plane in Cairo three days ago where they were met by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi who welcomed them, reportedly referring to them as having been kidnapped in Libya and saying that Egypt had secured their freedom.
According to a leading official at Libya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, however, the Ethiopians were illegal immigrants who had been arrested and held by the Libyan army.
He told the Libya Herald that the issue had been raised at a recent meeting involving Libya and Ethiopian officials in Addis Ababa and that the Libya embassy in the Ethiopian capital had then organised their repatriation.
No Egyptian forces had liberated the Ethiopians, he said. They had simply been held by the Libyan army who then released them. Egypt’s involvement was in flying them home via Cairo.
There has been concern about Ethiopians in Libya after the Islamic State claimed they had executed a number of Ethiopian Christians in Libya last month. [/restrict]
