Mansour Says Glimpse of Hope for Release of Interpreter Held in Libya

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said on Thursday that Lebanese interpreter Helen Assaf, who was detained in Libya along with members of the International Criminal Court, might be released soon.

“The Libyan authorities gave us a glimpse of hope that Assaf will be released soon,” Mansour told As Safir newspaper.

He noted that the Foreign Ministry is following up the conditions of the Lebanese expats.

“Our lines are open to receive any complaint or information on any emergency that the Lebanese across the world go through,” Mansour pointed out.

Libyan authorities put four envoys from the ICC in "preventive" detention in prison for 45 days while investigating an alleged threat to national security.

Lawyer Melinda Taylor was found carrying documents for Moammar Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, while Taylor's interpreter Assaf was considered an "accomplice."

Taylor works with Xavier-Jean Keita, the defense counsel that the ICC appointed for Seif al-Islam.

The team was in Libya to help Seif choose a defense lawyer, and the court has said the visit was authorized by the country's chief prosecutors.

According to As Safir, Lebanese charge d’affaires in Libya Hassan Saleh briefed Mansour on a meeting he attended at the office of the European Union Ambassador in Libya with Russian, Spanish and Australian ambassadors.

Mansour demanded Saleh to follow up the case of Assaf as “every Lebanese should be surrounded with the needed care when passing through this kind of conditions.”

Assaf is held at a prison in Zintan, 150 kilometers from the city Tripoli, the daily said.

“She is in a good condition,” Saleh informed Mansour after meeting with Assaf.

As Safir reported that the meeting between Assaf and Saleh was in the presence of the Russian, Spanish and Australian ambassadors who also met with their detained citizens.

The ambassadors weren’t allowed to talk privately with the four-member delegation.