Tunisians Kidnapped by Armed Libyan Group Released

Some 100 Tunisian workers kidnapped by armed men in western Libya have been released, Tunisia said Wednesday after a diplomatic row in which Tripoli denied any abductions had occurred.

"The Tunisians kidnapped in Libya have been freed," Tunisia's interior ministry said in a statement.

The statement claimed the workers' seizure had been in retaliation for the arrest of Libyan nationals in Tunisia, and said Tunis had released three Libyans arrested on April 14 near the border between the north African countries.

The ministry said the Libyans had already returned home, and that Tunis was working with authorities in Libya to assure the Tunisians' safe return.

But Libya's interior ministry said that account was baseless.

"We deny this information. There was no kidnapping of any Tunisians," interior ministry spokesman Abdelmonem Ayad said without elaborating.

The vice-chairman of Libya's high security committee, which falls under the ministry of interior, also dismissed the reports, explaining that some Tunisians saw their journey interrupted by a sit-in.

A group of revolutionaries -- former rebels -- angered by the detention of three Libyans in Tunis had "held up a group of Tunisians in a bid to have them join their cause," Tarek Zambo told Agence France Presse.

"This does not constitute a kidnapping," he said.