Italy releases senior Libyan police officer it arrested on ICC warrant

Italy has released a senior member of Libya's judicial police who it had arrested on a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes accusations, an interior ministry source said on Tuesday.

The man, named by Italy's justice ministry as Najeem Osema Almasri Habish and listed in Libyan government records as Osama Njeem, has already boarded a flight for Tripoli, ANSA and other Italian news agencies reported.

He was freed due to a legal technicality, the interior ministry source said, because the police who arrested him failed to immediately inform the justice ministry as was required.

The suspect had been apprehended in the northern Italian city of Turin on Sunday after a tip from the international police body Interpol. His arrest was welcomed by migrant rescue groups and human rights charities.

Italian daily Avvenire, which first reported the arrest, said Njeem managed a migrant detention centre in Tripoli as part of his role with the Libyan judicial police, and was affiliated with the powerful military Special Deterrence Force.

Italian migrant rescue charity Mediterranea had hailed the arrest, and renewed criticism of deals under which Italy and the EU help Libyan authorities stop migrant sea crossings to Europe.

The deals have been attacked by the United Nations, human rights experts and international charities such as Doctors Without Borders for supporting and abetting widespread abuse and exploitation that migrants suffer in Libya.

In another high profile case involving a foreign national, this month Italy also released an Iranian businessman who had been detrained on a U.S. warrant, after Rome's justice minister revoked his arrest.