CAIRO: Libya has released 52 Egyptian fishermen who had been arrested for straying into its territorial waters earlier this month, Egypt announced on Sunday.
Mohamed Abdel Hakam, Egypt’s deputy foreign minister for consular affairs and the diaspora, was quoted by the state-run MENA news agency as saying that the fishermen had been released without trial.
The fishermen were to leave Benghazi, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of Tripoli, on Sunday with three boats, which had been impounded following their arrest on Jan. 9, Hakam said.
He also urged fishermen and ship owners to respect international laws on the territorial waters of other countries.
Cairo had made diplomatic and political contacts with Libyan authorities to secure the release of the fishermen and spare them a trial.
