8:52pm UK, Sunday March 06, 2011
Eight SAS soldiers who had been detained by Libyan rebels near Benghazi have left the country aboard HMS Cumberland, according to Sky News sources.
According to reports the group had been taken to Benghazi after being apprehended near the city.
A British diplomat who was with the unit was said to have been involved in negotiations for their release.
The Foreign Secretary William Hague has confirmed that a British diplomatic team who had been detained by Libyan rebels had been freed and had left the country.
"The team went to Libya to initiate contacts with the opposition," said Mr Hague.
He added "They experienced difficulties which have now been satisfactorily resolved."
The Foreign Secretary said other diplomats would be sent to Libya to "strengthen dialogue" with rebel leaders.
The rebels had earlier been reported as saying the soldiers were being well treated and the issue would soon be resolved.
Conversation between ambassador and rebel leader
Defence Secretary Liam Fox earlier confirmed that a "small diplomatic team" had been in Benghazi to talk to Libyan rebels.
Mr Fox declined to comment on reports the SAS unit guarding the team had been detained.
"We are in touch with them but it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on that" he told the Andrew Marr show.
According to the Sky sources the eight SAS members were among a group of around 22 soldiers and one diplomat believed to have been dropped by helicopter in an area south of the Benghazi.
Sir Menzies Campbell On Libyan Developments
Audio of a telephone conversation between the UK's ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and a senior rebel leader was later leaked.
In it Mr Northern suggested the SAS team had been detained due to a "misunderstanding".
The rebel leader responded: "They made a big mistake, coming with a helicopter in an open area."
Mr Northern said: "I didn't know how they were coming."
The SAS's intervention allegedly angered Libyan opposition figures who ordered the armed and plain-clothes soldiers to be locked up on a military base.
Google map highlighting the city of Benghazi
Opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's feared he could use any evidence of western military interference to rally patriotic support for his regime.
The Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity group says the soldiers were caught when they were at a location 6 miles (10km) from Benghazi's airport at Benina.
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