Mayor of Tripoli freed after abduction: Municipality

By Gulsen Topcu

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) - The Mayor of the Libyan capital, Abdul-Raouf Beit al-Mal, was released on Friday after he was abducted by unknown perpetrators, according to the city’s municipality.

Sharing the information on their official Facebook page, the city council did not give details about the mayor’s state of health and the identity of the perpetrators.

On Thursday, it was explained that the mayor was abducted by unknown perpetrators who broke into his home in the city’s Khallet al-Furjan district and taken to an unknown location.

No group has claimed responsibility for al-Mal’s abduction.

Libya has remained in disarray since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- along with a host of heavily-armed militia groups.