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Libya Confirms UMBC Grad Captive

Government acknowledges that journalist Matthew VanDyke is in custody, Rep. Ruppersberger says.

The government of Libya has acknowledged that journalist and UMBC graduate Matthew VanDyke is being held prisoner but won't say where, according to U.S. Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger (D-Md).

Since the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Libya, word has filtered back and forth through intermediary nations and intelligence agencies, according to Ruppersberger's office.

Confirmation that VanDyke is alive and in custody was delivered through Hungarian diplomats.

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“This is the first time Libyan authorities have acknowledged that they have detained Matthew VanDyke and they will now be held accountable for his welfare and whereabouts," said Ruppersberger, a ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, in an email to Arbutus Patch.

"It certainly is good news," said Matthew's mother, Sharon VanDyke, told Arbutus Patch. "Previously Gadaffi's government's officials said that they didn't know anything about Matthew and didn't know of his whereabouts."

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The Libyan government has not said where VanDyke is being held, or why, and are not allowing diplomatic access to him, according to Ruppersberger's office.

When civil unrest that may lead to regime change broke out in Libya, , a city on the eastern side of the country thought to be safely distant from the upheaval in the capital of Tripoli.

In March, Moammar Gadhafi launched an assault on Benghazi. On March 12, VanDyke told his girlfriend that he and his friends were traveling by truck from Benghazi to Brega.

A brief phone call on March 12 was the last time Sharon VanDyke spoke with her son.

On March 13, the U.S. joined a five-nation coalition to launch military attacks aimed at crippling Gadhafi's defenses. The same day, VanDyke sent a text message to his mother containing GPS coordinates. Then his phone stopped working.

On Aug. 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement demanding that VanDyke be granted rights under the Geneva Conventions.

"For the past five months, Matthew VanDyke has been denied his fundamental right to access consular assistance and his detention was kept secret," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "The Libyan government has an obligation, under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to provide VanDyke with immediate access to this assistance. This must happen without delay."

Last month, verified that VanDyke was being held in Libya. Ruppersberger said that international efforts are being focused on getting VanDyke freed.

"We must continue to use any and all resources here in the US and on the ground in Libya," he said. "We must also continue to reach out to our allies and partners who still have operating consulates and embassies in Libya to bring Matthew and other imprisoned Americans home."

"Hopefully it will now make it easier for the Hungarians, acting on behalf of the U.S. government, to secure Matthew's release," Sharon VanDyke said. "It has been 153 days since I last spoke with Matthew."


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