Tunisian consular staff who were kidnapped in Libya have returned home.

(Baonghean) - Ten Tunisian diplomats who were kidnapped by gunmen at their consulate in Libya a week ago were released and returned home safely on Friday, June 19.

No organization has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but amid the chaos in Libya, armed groups have abducted diplomats and foreign citizens to pressure the Libyan government to release Libyan fighters held in foreign prisons.

The police car was parked in front of the Tunisian consulate in Tripoli, Libya on June 13.

Libya's two opposing governments – one internationally recognized and the other a self-proclaimed state – have been battling each other on multiple fronts since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Three of the ten Tunisians were released shortly after negotiations between their kidnappers and Libya's self-proclaimed government. "They were released and arrived in Tunis this Friday," Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Bakouch told Reuters. He did not provide details about the talks aimed at securing the release of his employees.

The statement came after a Tunisian court ruled on Thursday that Walid Kalib could be extradited. Kalib is a member of the Libya Dawn movement and was arrested in Tunisia last month. Gunmen stormed the consulate in Tripoli after a Tunisian court refused to release him in a previous ruling.

Tunisia is one of the few countries with a diplomatic presence in Tripoli since the Libya Dawn took over the capital and forced international recognition as the functioning government in the eastern region.

United Nations negotiators are trying to broker a peace agreement between the two factions and form a unity government to end a crisis that Western countries fear will create a weak state on the other side of the Mediterranean from mainland Europe.

Phuong Thao

(According to Reuters, June 19)