The British newspaper “The Guardian” reported that the Italian authorities believe that Haftar is planning to impose an exchange deal between the Italian fishermen detained by him and four Libyans held in Italy.
The newspaper said in a report, on Monday, that Italy believes the “eastern Libyan authorities” claim that the arrested fishermen are smuggling drugs, but the Italians believe it is a plan by Haftar to impose an exchange deal for the four Libyans.
The newspaper pointed out that the families of the four Libyan detainees in Italy claim that they are refugees who fled the war to continue their careers as soccer players in Germany, and that smugglers forced them to drive the boat, and that they were wrongly convicted.
It is worth noting that Haftar’s militia announced at the beginning of last September, the arrest of 18 fishermen, including 8 Italians, who were on board two boats accused of practicing fishing in Libyan territorial waters.
