Libya unrest: UK diplomatic team released by rebels

A British diplomatic team who were detained in eastern Libya after landing there two days ago have been freed, the Foreign Office has confirmed.



The men are understood to have left Benghazi bound for Malta on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cumberland.

It is thought the team included six SAS soldiers escorting a diplomat who was making contact with opposition leaders.

Witnesses said the men were detained by rebels after arriving near Benghazi in a helicopter early on Friday morning.

They were held after going to an agricultural compound when Libyan security guards found they were carrying arms, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from at least four different nationalities, witnesses told the BBC.

The witnesses said the men had denied they were carrying weapons.

In a statement on Sunday, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the team, part of efforts to make contact with opposition leaders amid the unrest in Libya, had "experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved".