The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi de Maio, said, “His country does not accept blackmail in the case of Italian fishermen detained in eastern Libya, and will not accept their release in exchange for the release of Libyans detained in Italy.”
de Maio added – in a press statement on Tuesday – that Italy will not accept the desire of the authorities in eastern Libya to barter for fishermen, given that the Libyans detained in Rome are accused of a human smuggling case dating back to 2015.
It is reported that Haftar’s militias have detained, in early September, 18 Italian fishermen, who were on board two boats, on charges of fishing in Libyan territorial waters.
