TRIPOLI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Interior Ministry on Saturday said it freed three African hostages kidnapped by an African national in the capital Tripoli.
"Members of the Investigation Bureau managed to free three African abductees from Niger kidnapped for ransom by a Malian national in Tripoli," the ministry said.
"One of the kidnapped contacted a relative and asked for the ransom. The relative contacted the bureau, which later arrested the criminal and freed the hostages," the ministry added.
Kidnapping for ransom happen frequently to African nationals in Libya, where there are more than 700,000 illegal African immigrants, according to official reports.
Libya is plagued by insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of the late leader Gaddafi's regime in 2011.
