MILAN: Four Italian journalists taken at gunpoint in Libya were freed Thursday in a raid on the house where they were being held, an official said.
Details of the raid, first reported on Corriere della Sera's website, and who conducted it were not immediately available. The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the four were freed, but had no further details.
The four were taken at gunpoint Wednesday by forces loyal to the regime of fugitive Libyan dictator, Muammar Qadhafi. Their Libyan driver was killed.
''They shot the driver dead in front of us. We are fine, but our thoughts are with the driver who died. We have become close friends with him,'' Claudio Monici of Avvenire, the daily of the Italian bishops conference, told reporters in Tripoli after their release.
The others released include two correspondents from the Milan daily Corriere della Sera and one from Turin's La Stampa.
An Italian diplomat said no demands had been made.
''I am alive and well, and free,'' said Domenico Quirco, who was quoted by his newspaper, La Stampa.
''Now I am fine, but an hour ago I though I was going to die.''
News of the release came just minutes before Premier Silvio Berlusconi went into a meeting with the head of Libya's rebel Cabinet, who is on a European diplomatic tour aimed at securing the release of billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets.
Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa told Sky News 24 that the release was ''a relief.'' He said details of the raid were still being confirmed.
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