Tunisia says 172 nationals held by Libya militia

         

     Fighters from the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn), an alliance of Islamist-backed militias, take position in Bir al-Ghanam, around 50 kilometres from the capital, on March 5, 2015/FILE

Tunis, Tunisia, May 18 – Tunisia said Monday that it was negotiating for the release of 172 nationals being held by a Libyan militia as bargaining chips for one of its commanders detained in Tunis.
The foreign ministry’s Arab and African affairs chief Touhami Abdouli said the Tunisians had been detained in western Libya by a militia that is part of the Libya Dawn alliance which controls the capital Tripoli and third city Misrata.

“We are going to try to make the effort to resolve this at the political level,” Abdouli told Shems-FM radio. “I am optimistic.”
The Tunisian consul in Tripoli, Ibrahim Rezgui, told Jawahra FM radio late Sunday that he had received complaints from Tunisian citizens about the arrests.
“Around 172 are being held by a militia allied to Libya Dawn… but there could be more,” said Rezgui.