Kidnapped journalists released from hotel
The releases took place hours before four Italian journalists were kidnapped and their driver killed, apparently by Libyans loyal to dictator Gaddafi, as they travelled towards Tripoli, Italy’s foreign minister said.
The ministry said the newspaper journalists included two from the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, one from Turin’s La Stampa and one from Avvenire, a national Catholic daily.
It said the abduction happened on a stretch of highway between Zawiah, a town 50km west of Tripoli, and the Libyan capital.
Italian news reports said the Avvenire reporter was able to make a call to Milan saying the four were OK.
The freed Associated Press journalists earlier said they had left in a car and were moving to another hotel.
The journalists had been held at gunpoint by two nervous Kalashnikov-wielding guards who refused to give up their posts despite rebel victories elsewhere in the city. Earlier in the day, an Associated Press reporter who entered the hotel found the journalists wearing helmets and flak jackets, clustered on the second floor, where a guard said they weren’t permitted to leave.
Other journalists showed up at the gate, including a group in a car decorated with a rebel flag, and were forced out of the car and into the hotel, where they joined the dozens who had been there for days.
Those who have been held captive inside the hotel described running battles in the area, and intermittent electricity.
They were sleeping huddled on the floor in one wing of the hotel to protect each other for fear of people being attacked in their rooms, their belongings packed in case of need for a sudden departure. Apart for the two guards, all the hotel employees had fled and the journalists were cooking for themselves.
One guard expressed surprise when told most of the city was in rebel hands.
