Libya unrest: UK diplomatic team released by rebels
The British team left Benghazi on board the Royal Navy frigate, HMS Cumberland Continue reading the main story
A British diplomatic team who were detained in eastern Libya after landing there two days ago have been freed, the Foreign Office has confirmed.
The men are understood to have left Benghazi bound for Malta on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cumberland.
It is thought the team included six SAS soldiers escorting a diplomat who was making contact with opposition leaders.
Witnesses said the men were detained by rebels after arriving near Benghazi in a helicopter early on Friday morning.
They were held after going to an agricultural compound when Libyan security guards found they were carrying arms, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from at least four different nationalities, witnesses told the BBC.
The witnesses said the men had denied they were carrying weapons.
In a statement on Sunday, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the team, part of efforts to make contact with opposition leaders amid the unrest in Libya, had "experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved".
'Embarrassing'
He added: "We intend, in consultation with the opposition, to send a further team to strengthen our dialogue in due course. This diplomatic effort is part of the UK's wider work on Libya, including our ongoing humanitarian support.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Gordon Corera
Security correspondent, BBC News
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Despite the presence of special forces, this was no covert military mission. Its aim instead was to reach out to opposition groups in the east and gain a better understanding of what was happening on the ground.
The role of the soldiers was to protect the diplomat involved - a regular practice in war zones and hostile environments.
But in the fluid, confusing situation in the Middle East, the arrival of this first team, landed by helicopter at night and with armed men in black, was misinterpreted as something altogether different.
Despite the failure of this mission, officials have said that efforts to reach out to opposition groups are likely to continue - although the manner of their arrival next time might be different.
Gaddafi troops' 'gains' disputed
"We continue to press for [Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people."
Also on Sunday, Libyan State TV broadcast what it described as a recording of a phone call between Britain's ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and a rebel spokesman, in which they discussed the British team's situation.
On the recording, Mr Northern asks a senior opposition figure to intervene in what he calls a "misunderstanding".
He explains a team was in eastern Libya to prepare the way for a British humanitarian mission.
The recording has not been verified, but it is known that Britain had been negotiating the release of its team.
The BBC's Jon Leyne, who is in Benghazi, says the British mission appeared to have been an "embarrassing miscalculation".
He said the UK was "obviously unaware of the reaction likely to be provoked in this tense situation by a group of armed men arriving on a helicopter, in the dead of night
