Libya militia kidnap 10 staffers from Tunisia consulate

[bemildred]

Libyan militiamen kidnapped 10 staffers from Tunisia's consulate in Tripoli Friday after storming the mission, the government in Tunis said.

A foreign ministry statement denounced "the intrusion of an armed group in the offices of the Tunisian consulate in Tripoli and the detention of 10 staff of the mission."

The government in Tunis said a crisis cell had been established in the wake of the kidnapping.

Security forces sealed off the area around the consulate, banning journalists from the site and barring them from taking pictures, an AFP correspondent said.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/132610/World/Region/Libya-militia-kidnap--staffers-from-Tunisia-consul.aspx

[Jesus Malverde]

1. "militiamen"

Jihadist? Western Mercenaries?

Such weasel words.

[bemildred]

2. Tunisian diplomats kidnapped in Tripoli in good condition - Libyan official

Ten Tunisian consular staff kidnapped in Libya's capital Tripoli are in good condition and contact has been made with their captors, the interior minister for Libya's self-declared government said on Saturday.

Tunisia said on Friday an armed group had stormed the consulate and kidnapped staff. Most diplomats left Tripoli after an armed faction called Libya Dawn took over the city and set up its own government there last summer.

"I am in contact with the group who abducted the Tunisian staff and hopefully the staff will be freed soon," Interior Minister Mohamed Shaiteer told Reuters. "They are in good condition."

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but Libya is in turmoil with two rival governments and their armed factions -- one in Tripoli and the other, internationally recognised administration in the east -- battling for control.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/13/uk-libya-security-tunisia-idUKKBN0OT0M220150613