Dutch marines freed by Libya flown to Greece

ATHENS  - Three Dutch marines detained in Libya were released by Libyan authorities and flown to Athens aboard a Greek military plane on Friday.
They were met at Athens airport by Dutch government officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Ed Kronenberg who headed the delegation that negotiated their release.
"The people have been very well taken care off, they are in good health and in good shape," Kronenberg told reporters. "They will be flying back to the Netherlands very soon."
The marines were arrested on Feb. 27 at Sirte in northern Libya when they tried to rescue a Dutch engineer and another European by helicopter.
The Dutch Defence Ministry confirmed the operation was carried out without authorisation from Libya, whose soldiers prevented the helicopter from taking off.
The civilians were later handed over to the Dutch embassy in Tripoli and returned to the Netherlands on March 2.
The marines' release was announced on Thursday by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam.
"Today we are going to hand over the Dutch soldiers to the Maltese and Greeks," he told Reuters.
"We told them, don't come back again without our permission. We captured the first NATO soldiers, we are sending them back home. But we are still keeping their helicopter."
Tens of thousands of foreigners living and working in Libya have left the country since a rebellion against Gaddafi's 41-year rule broke out last month.