CAIRO — After nearly five years of negotiations, Libya has released hundreds of Al Qaida detainees.   

Officials said the detainees had agreed to renounce violence and support the Ghadafi regime. They said the detainees, including the leader of the group, said they would not renew links to the insurgency network.

The release capped nearly five years of negotiations between the junior Ghadafi and Al Qaida-aligned insurgents in Libya who were captured in the late 1990s. In October 2009, the Tripoli regime released the first group of detainees from the Islamic Fighting Group.

Seif, described as heir-apparent, said another 232 Islamist detainees would be released. He said authorities were examining whether the prisoners had severed their ties to the Islamic Fighting Group and other insurgency networks. The Islamic Fighting Group was said to have formally joined Al Qaida in 2007.

"Since the beginning of this program, 705 Islamists have been freed and 409 are still in prison," Seif said.

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