Three Dutch Marines captured in Libya to be released
Three Dutch marines who were captured after a botched evacuation mission in Libya last month were being handed over Thursday to a European delegation, Libyan state TV said.
The report said the marines had entered Libya illegally and that they were being handed over to a delegation from Malta and Greece.
The Netherlands’ state broadcaster NOS quoted a top foreign ministry bureaucrat involved in release negotiations in Malta as saying the soldiers’ release was not yet definite.
“We hope indeed that it’s going to happen tonight,” the NOS quoted Ed Kronenburg as saying, “But we do not know it for certain.”
Dutch defense and foreign ministry officials could not immediately be reached for further comment.
The Dutch troops and their helicopter were seized Feb. 27 by armed forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi after landing near Sirte to help evacuate people from the country as a rebellion against the longtime leader’s rule gained steam.