Italy says two kidnapped Italians, one Canadian freed in Libya

Two Italians and a Canadian citizen who were kidnapped in southern Libya by armed and masked men in September were freed overnight and brought safely to Italy in the early hours of Saturday, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said.

The release of the three men, who work for an Italian construction company, was due to “the efficient collaboration of local Libyan authorities,” the ministry said, without giving details.

They were brought to Italy on a special flight.

They were kidnapped on September 19 by a group of armed and masked men who blocked their vehicle in Ghat, a city in the Sahara desert near the border with Algeria.

The ministry identified the Italians as Danilo Calonego and Bruno Cacace and the Canadian citizen of Italian origin, Frank Poccia.

ANSA news agency said they are all technicians employed by an Italian company, Conicos, which is doing construction work at an airport in Libya.