Libya: ICC staff held in Zintan released

Four staff members from the International Criminal Court held by a militia in Libya have been released.

The announcement came a during a visit to Libya by the court’s president, Sang-Hyun Song. The team had been accused by militias in the town of Zintan of spying after a visit to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the deposed Libyan leader. A senior member of the Libyan attorney-general’s office confirmed to the BBC that the four would be leaving Libya. “They are due to face the courts here in Tripoli for the final ruling” on 23 July, the source said. “We expect them to come back for the hearing but if they don’t a ruling will be made in absentia,” the source added. The ICC employees had been accused by the Libyan authorities of jeopardising the country’s national security, the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tripoli reports.