Libya govt arrests alleged abusers of Egyptian labourers

Police have "apprehended the people involved" and are preparing to present them to the prosecutor, the Government of National Accord's interior ministry said in a statement.

The Egyptian labourers who were the "victims of this crime" have also been identified and are "safe and allowed to move freely, carrying out their work as normal", it added.

"They will be heard on the ill-treatment they suffered in violation of their rights."

The United Nations mission to Libya on Tuesday urged the GNA to probe allegations that allied forces had detained and abused a group of Egyptian labourers in the city of Tarhuna, recently taken by pro-GNA fighters battling rival forces of Egypt-backed warlord Khalifa Haftar.

The call came after a video was widely circulated on social media apparently showing the Egyptian workers forced to stand on one leg with their bare feet on the sand as they raised their hands.

The men in the footage appeared to be repeating at the behest of an unidentified man expletives against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Haftar.

The eastern-based commander, who is also backed by the United Arab Emirates and Russia, launched an offensive to seize Tripoli in April 2019.

His forces were recently driven out of the western part of the country by pro-GNA forces, with the support of Turkey.

The video drew the ire of Egyptian officials and was condemned by the Arab League. 

The GNA had already on Sunday said an investigation would be launched into the video's authenticity. 

"Such occurrences should not spoil the strong relations between the Egyptian and Libyan people," the interior ministry said at the time. 

Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. 

It is currently split between rival administrations in the east and the west.

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