TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Jordan has agreed to handover a Libyan Islamist to Tripoli to secure the release of its ambassador kidnapped in the North African country two weeks ago, Libya’s state news agency LANA said yesterday.
Jordan’s ambassador to Libya, Fawaz al-Itan, was snatched by gunmen who demanded the release of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan Islamist militant jailed for life in 2007 for plotting to blow up the main airport in Jordan.
Sohar Banun, an undersecretary in Libya’s justice ministry, said both countries had agreed that the ambassador would be released in exchange for Jordan reducing Dersi’s sentence and allowing him to complete his jail term in Libya, LANA said.
“The Jordanian authorities expressed their total readiness to solve this crisis, confirming that the ambassador will be released in exchange for reducing the term of the Libyan prisoner and sending him home to complete his sentence,” he said according to the agency.
“The crisis will be solved according to a memorandum of understanding between the two countries,” said Banun, who heads a department taking care of Libyans jailed abroad.
He gave no details or time frame, and there was no immediate comment from Jordanian or Libyan officials.
Analysts have said agreeing to the kidnappers’ demand could set a dangerous precedent for Jordan, which is an important US ally in the fight against al Qaeda.
Kidnappings have become commonplace in Libya, with foreign diplomats often the targets.
Libyan Islamists have also seized two Tunisian diplomats to demand the release of fellow militants jailed in Tunisia for attacking security forces there in 2011, according to the Tunisian government.