Reuters AlertNet Lite - Libya frees 90 Qaeda-linked rebels, charity says

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Libya frees 90 Qaeda-linked rebels, charity says

08 Apr 2008 17:16:31 GMT
Source: Reuters

TRIPOLI, April 8 (Reuters) - Libya has released 90 al Qaeda-linked Islamic rebels from prison after talks between their movement and a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the charity said on Tuesday.

The rebels were members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya (FIGL) and represent one third of the group's members still held in Libyan jails, said the Gaddafi International Foundation chaired by Saif al-Islam.

It gave no details of the terms of their release.

The foundation first announced the talks on Feb. 25, saying authorities were preparing to free one third of the group members still behind bars.

The FIGL announced its presence in 1995, vowing to overthrow Gaddafi and launching a violent campaign in the OPEC oil exporting country.

In November 2007, al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said the group had joined the militant organisation.

The 90 group members freed on Tuesday were held in Tripoli's main prison of Abu Salim, the scene of riots in October 2006 in which one prisoner died and 17 were injured in clashes with guards and police.

FIGL members were among the rioters, who Libyan authorities described as "heretics", the official term they use to describe radical Islamists.

At the time, more than 100 FIGL members were serving long jail terms at the prison, including life.

In January this year, Abu Laith al-Libi, a leading Fighting Group member and al Qaeda field commander, was killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan. (Reporting by Salah Sarrar; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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