Italian worker kidnapped in Libya freed

Rome, Nov 13 (IANS/EFE) Italian technician Marco Vallisa, kidnapped last July while working at a construction site in Libya, has been released and will return to Italy later Thursday, the Italian foreign ministry said.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni expressed his "deep satisfaction" at Vallisa's release and hailed the efforts of all those who worked for his freedom.

Gentiloni explained that Vallisa was released thanks to the joint efforts of the ministry's crisis unit and the Italian embassy in Libya, the only European embassy still open in the conflict-ridden North African nation.

Vallisa, 54, was kidnapped along with two other employees from the same company, Bosnian Peter Matic and Macedonian Emilio Gafuri, who were released two days after their abduction.

Five other Italians, mostly relief workers, remain missing in Libya or are known to be held captive.

--IANS/EFE

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