MOSCOW, November 16 (Sputnik) – An Italian engineer, kidnapped in Libya in Spring 2014, is reported to have been released, according to Italian foreign ministry, cited by AP.
48-year old Gianluca Salviato was held hostage for 8 months and freed just a few days after the release of another Italian citizen, 54-year old Marco Vallisa, according to Daily Star. Salviato was working on a sewage project for an Italian company when he disappeared near the city of Tobruk, Libya. He was reported to suffer from diabetes and his health condition raised serious concerns among Italian officials.
The country’s authorities made every effort in order to attain Salviato's freedom, said Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, giving, however, no further information on how his release was secured.
Marco Vallisa was working for an Italian engineering firm in the city of Zwara when he and his two colleagues from Bosnia and Macedonia were abducted by Libyan militias on July, 5. Bosnian Petar Matic and Macedonian Emilio Gafuri were freed two days after their capture, while Vallisa was held hostage until November, 13. Details of his release also remain unknown, but according to Libyan security sources Italian authorities paid a ransom of €1 million to the armed militia that had captured him, AFP reports.
Salviato came to Rome on Saturday night, while Vallisa arrived in Italy’s capital a few days earlier, Italian foreign minister confirmed.
Kidnappings of foreigners and diplomats have become a common practice in Libya after the killing of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Libyan officials are failing to control armed militias who are spreading violence across the country.
