Freed UK reporters: Libyans thought we were Israeli spies
British journalists say their bandages had Welsh writing on them, but captors mistook it for Hebrew
Two British journalists who were released over the weekend by a Libyan militia after being detained for a month were thought to be spies because their captors confused Welsh with Hebrew, The Telegraph reported Tuesday.
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Nicholas Davies-Jones and Gareth Montgomery-Johnson, who were working for Iran's English-language Press TV, were detained on Feb 22 by the Swehli brigade, one of the dozens of militias which helped force out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year.
Earlier this month, the Swehli militia said the Britons, initially detained for illegal entry into Libya, were suspected of spying, The Telegraph reported. However, they were transferred to the custody of the government last week.
The reporters said five days after they had been detained, the militia had gone to their hotel to find footage and began looking through equipment and the archive material.
"My father, who's a nurse, had given me some bandages in case we got into trouble. Some had Welsh written on and they thought this was Hebrew and we were Israeli spies," Montgomery-Johnson told BBC 5Live.
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