Martin Galea arrived in Malta on Monday night after spending 11 days captive in Libya. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Retired army captain Martin Galea was abducted in a Tripoli district controlled by an Islamist group and kept in a cell most of the time, Libyan sources involved in his release have told Times of Malta.

There were a couple of instances when it looked as though the kidnappers were about to release him before he was finally freed on Monday afternoon. However, they apparently had a change of mind.

Mr Galea was abducted at the Ayn Zara Bridge in the Fornaj district of Tripoli, which, the sources said, is controlled by a group known as the Suq Al-Juma’a militia, an Islamist faction allied to the larger Misuratan Militia. It has not been ascertained whether this was the group that took him.

The Maltese Security Service interviewed Mr Galea for several hours yesterday but it is not known whether he has identified his captors.

The 42-year-old former captain returned to Malta on Monday evening after being held captive for 11 days.

He touched down shortly before 9pm after having been released by his abductors to the Maltese consulate in Tripoli three hours earlier.

He was taken to Mater Dei Hospital where, sources said, he was given a check-up and held under observation for the night.

In a brief statement on Monday, given on the tarmac of Luqa airport, where he was welcomed by a delegation led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Mr Galea thanked the Maltese government but especially consul Marisa Farrugia for “literally saving my life”. He was later reunited with his family in private.

Repeated attempts to contact both Mr Galea and Dr Farrugia were yesterday unsuccessful.

Despite having been abducted on Thursday, July 17, the news of his capture was only broken by Times of Malta last Friday. The Prime Minister insisted that this silence during his capture was crucial for Mr Galea’s own sake.

However, there were no updates yesterday on the motives for his kidnap or the exact details of his captivity.

It is hard to pin down who is fighting who in Libya at the moment but broadly speaking the battle is between secularists and Islamists. In the West, predominantly in and around Tripoli, the fight is represented by the Zintan Militia and the Misurata militia, respectively representing the current government and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Area of Libya where Mr Galea was kidnapped. Graphic: Design Studio

Beneath these groups there is what Guardian correspondent Chris Stephen described as a mosaic of militias and criminal gangs. Some are out to make fast cash through kidnappings, either for profit or to fund their fighting.

That is what appears to have happened in this case although the captors seem to have had a change of heart on the plan. The Libyan sources who spoke to Times of Malta said the captors were specifically asked, during negotiations on behalf of the Maltese government, whether they wanted money and they said no.

The Libya Herald reported security service sources in Tripoli saying that a ransom had been paid for Mr Galea’s release by the oil and gas company that employs him, the Arab Geophysical Exploration Services Company (Agesco).

The company has been asked for a reported €400,000 but the portal said its source would not confirm the exact amount paid or by whom. However, the sources who spoke to Times of Malta insisted no ransom was paid.

The Prime Minister confirmed in a briefing on Monday that Agesco had been asked for money but insisted that the Maltese government at no point faced a ransom request and did not pay any money.

The development comes as the situation worsens in Libya, particularly after a rocket caused an explosion at an oil facility in Tripoli, provoking a catastrophic conflagration which Libyan authorities described as “out of control”. The Italian government and the state-owned oil company ENI offered to send aircraft and a team of specialists to help put out blaze.

Two injured Libyans were due to be flown to Malta by air ambulance yesterday evening, the fourth and fifth patients to be treated here in the recent violence. Two were flown to Malta on Saturday and another yesterday.

A Maltese government source said the government was inching closer to calling an evacuation. However, there is concern over the political and security ramifications of such a move.

Meanwhile, commenting on Mr Galea’s release, the Nationalist Party yesterday thanked all those involved, making special mention of consul Marisa Farrugia.

The PN said it was informed that those involved included a number of Libyans close to Malta who worked hard behind the scenes and it thanked them for their efforts while wishing Mr Galea well.