Four US military personnel have been freed after a brief detention by the Libyan government

Four US military personnel have been freed after a brief detention by the Libyan government, the US State Department said Saturday.
  
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who hours earlier announced that the Americans had been detained, did not say why they were held. "All four US military personnel being held in Libyan government custody have been released," Psaki said in a brief statement just after midnight Friday. "We are still trying to ascertain the facts of the incident."
  
According to Psaki, the four "were operating in an area near Sabratha as part of security preparedness efforts when they were taken into custody."

"We value our relationship with the new Libya," Psaki said. "We have a strategic partnership based on shared interests and our strong support for Libya's historic democratic transition."
  
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the four were released just two hours after the US State Department announced their detention.
  
The military staff were attached to the security team at the US embassy in Tripoli and may have been scouting escape routes for possible future use by diplomats, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed US officials. The personnel were detained at a checkpoint and moved to the interior ministry, according to the Times.