Fishing crews held in Libya released

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 17 - The crews of two Italian fishing boats based in the Sicilian town of Mazara del Vallo who were taken captive early in September and had been held in Libya since have been released, Premier Giuseppe Conte and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday.
    The breakthrough came after Conte and Di Maio flew to Benghazi, the stronghold of Libyan General Khalifa el-Haftar where the crews were being held..
    The crews are made up of 18 people: eight Italians, six Tunisians, two Indonesians, and two Senegalese.
    Conte posted a photo of the smiling fishermen on his Twitter account with the comment "have a good journey home".
    Di Maio tweeted the same photo with the comment "Our fishermen are free".
    Mazara del Vallo Mayor Salvatore Quinci said the crews were already on the way back to Sicily.
    "The fishermen have already spoken to their families and they are aboard their boats, the Antartide and Medinea," said Quinci.
    "Their Muslim colleagues have managed to exchange a few words with their families too". (ANSA).