All the foreign journalists who were held in a Tripoli hotel for days by armed Gadafy loyalists left it unharmed today.
Representatives of the International Committee Red Cross came to the Rixos Hotel, arranged for them to leave and provided transport away from the hotel.
Some 35 foreign correspondents, including myself and two other Reuters journalists, and at least two foreign politicians had been trapped for five days in deteriorating conditions as food and water supplies ran low in the once-opulent hotel.
While opposition forces control large parts of Tripoli, fighting continued as forces loyal to Muammar Gadafy bombarded areas in the centre of the capital, including around the hotel.
The Rixos, just south of Tripoli city centre, appeared to be one of the few parts of the city not under rebel control.
The Gadafy government had used the hotel to house foreign reporters who flocked to Tripoli since Libyans rose up against his rule in February.
However, instead of being able to report freely, we were prohibited from venturing out of the hotel on our own. When we did leave, government minders hovered nearby during interviews and coached residents on their answers.
The government ferried us from pro-Gadafy rallies and showed us sites where Nato airstrikes had killed civilians.
The journalists relied on the government for transportation faced daily accusations, including that we were spies.