American Basketball Players Briefly Detained in Libya
Security forces briefly detained on Thursday two Americans playing for a basketball team in Libya's volatile eastern city of Benghazi, a security source said.
The unidentified men, who play for Benghazi's Al-Hilal, "were picked up while they were practicing near Garyounes University," said one of the school's security officials.
"They were arrested in the company of two Libyans and were freed after being questioned," the source said without explaining why they had been picked up.
On Friday, four US military personnel on a security mission in Libya were briefly detained near Sabratha, 60 kilometers (36 miles) west of Tripoli, without any reason being given.
The New York Times reported that the four were attached to the US embassy's security team and had been working on scenarios for a theoretical evacuation of US government employees in the country.
The US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in September 2012 when militants assaulted the US consulate in Benghazi.
And an American teacher was shot dead early last month as he jogged in the city.
Since the revolution that ousted and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya's authorities have struggled to establish security in the country.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/112399 |