Libyan
rebels detain 70 Ghanaians
Joseph
Appiah-Dolphyne,
Libya's National Transitional
Council detained about 70 Ghanaians among a group of West and North Africans on
suspicion that they are mercenaries backing the pro-Gaddafi forces. The
suspects are currently being held in detention in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The NTC have
taken charge of a significant part of the country following the disappearance
of former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya deports 325 Nigerians in
two days.
The
rebels have been rounding up persons it accuses of being mercenaries, working
for the fugitive leader.
One
of the detained Ghanaians, Hassan Abdallah who spoke to Joy FM - a local radio
station in Ghana’s capital, Accra, through a smuggled
mobile phone, said that presently no charges have been brought against them,
since last week when they were detained.
“They have collected our passports, our
luggage, everything, they have not told us anything. There are even people here
from the Ghanaian embassy but they refuse to let them enter. The condition we
live in is very bad, the whole day we are giving just water and a little bread
for food”.
However,
the government of Ghana
said it is working tirelessly to seek the release of the 70 detainees.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs
Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni however clarified that the Ghanaians were
being held in detention because of immigration irregularities and offences and
not as mercenaries. He assured that Ghana’s missions were working round
the clock to have the prisoners released.
“When we first heard the information we spoke
to our Chargee D’affaire, Emmanuel Anoff in Libya, who confirmed to us that
their preliminary investigations had shown that Ghanaians were among some
groups of persons who had been detained because of some immigration violations.
“As at now, we are uncertain about the exact
number of Ghanaian citizens who have held up but we are working towards having
them released.”
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