A team of eight SAS soldiers and a UK diplomat, who were being detained by Libyan rebels near Benghazi, are believed to be aboard the HMS Cumberland which is due to arrive in Malta this afternoon.
The group, which had been deployed to Libya to make contacts with the opposition, were captured just outside the eastern Libyan town by rebel forces.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that the “British diplomatic team” had been freed and had left Benghazi.
“They experienced difficulties which have now been satisfactorily resolved,” Mr Hague said, adding other diplomats would be sent to Libya to “strengthen dialogue” with rebel leaders.
The group was reported to be on the HMS Cumberland by Sky and BBC news yesterday evening.
The UK Foreign Office told The Times that the navy vessel was on its way to Malta and was expected to arrive this afternoon.
However, it refused to confirm or deny that the SAS soldiers were on board, saying only that the “small diplomatic team” had left Libya yesterday evening.
The rebels had earlier been reported saying the soldiers were being treated well and that the issue would soon be resolved. The Libyan rebels’ national council said they had refused to talk to the British delegation, which entered the country without prior arrangement, and had sent the team back to London, AFP reported.
“We do not know the nature of their mission. We refused to discuss anything with them due to the way they entered the country,” spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa told reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
He reportedly said the men came into Libya by helicopter, landing in Suluk, a small town southwest of Benghazi.
“One person claims he is a diplomat and he has some guards accompanying him,” Mr Ghoqa said of the group dubbed by the UK foreign office as “a small diplomatic team”.
“Eight persons were arrested and it turns out that they carried British passports. The reason they were arrested is that they came into the country unofficially and without any previous arrangement,” he said.
Libya is an independent nation and it expected its borders to be respected by everyone, the Libyan rebels’ spokesman told AFP.
Meanwhile, the UK foreign office said the HMS Cumberland had left Benghazi yesterday with more evacuees on board.