UPDATE: Many of the journalists held at Tripoli's Rixos Hotel were allowed to leave, according to reports on Wednesday. Fauntroy's whereabouts are unknown.
Former U.S. member of Congress Walter Fauntroy, currently held in Tripoli's Rixos Hotel, had traveled to Libya on a self-appointed peace mission. His trip did not have his government's approval, though he appears to have planned to negotiate on behalf of his country, and it came as a complete surprise to the State Department, government sources tell The Atlantic.
Fauntroy is being detained by troops loyal to Muammar el-Qaddafi along with several Western journalists at the Rixos Hotel.
It is not immediately clear if they are being held as hostages by the regime. Fauntroy, a 78-year-old veteran of the U.S. civil-rights movement and a Baptist pastor, served as District of Columbia's nonvoting delegate to Congress from 1971 to 1991. He is currently serving as president of the Global Campaign for Middle East Peace, which defines itself as a "multicultural, interfaith organization, launching an international campaign for peace in the Middle East with a primary focus on resolving the tragic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians."
It's not clear if he was traveling on behalf of the group, the website for which—a WordPress blog—lists no contact information.
U.S. officials said they could confirm that the purpose of Fauntroy's Libya trip was, as he has said, to broker peace there. CNN reporter Matthew Chance, who is also at the Rixos and has emerged as a sort of informal spokesman for the journalists there, also confirmed on Twitter that Fauntroy was present and "was on a peace mission."
Chance has also detailed the group's efforts to remain safe and secure food as fighting rages outside. Although sitting members of Congress require State Department approval for diplomatic trips, former members such as Fauntroy do not. Still, his visit and captivity have complicated the State Department's already difficult dual mission to protect Americans in Libya while working toward the Qaddafi regime's end. His detention by loyalist troops will strengthen Qaddafi's hand in any negotiation with the U.S. or NATO.
It appears that Fauntroy may not have traveled to Libya on behalf of anyone but himself. Even his wife appears to have been taken by surprise. A statement put out by Eleanor Holmes Norton, Fauntroy's successor in Congress, notes that his wife, Dorothy Fauntroy, "did not know the circumstances of [the Rev.] Fauntroy's visit to Libya. He told her of the trip only shortly before his departure in order to prevent her from worrying."
Whatever the merits of his decision to leave his wife mostly in the dark, it's curious that Holmes went out of her way to point out, apparently unprompted, that Dorothy Fauntroy did not know the purpose of her husband's visit. "I came here over a week ago now and have been working on a long-term effort to rally the genuine spiritual leaders of the world ... to work out a peace agreement," Walter Fauntroy told the U.K.'s The Telegraph. He requested, "As a minister who believes in the fervent and effective prayers of the righteous" for well-wishers "to pray for deliverance for not only us, but the press corps with whom we have been quartered here, in an effort to carry out our peace mission."
Fauntroy's pious Christian language may have aided his work in the civil-rights movement, but it was unlikely to serve him well in Muslim Libya or in negotiating with its somewhat secular government. Norton's statement added that Fauntroy's wife expects his return soon. "He is in a safe place in Libya and expects to return to D.C. later this week to attend the official unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial," it read.
But, as Qaddafi's situation worsens and the Rixos remains locked down by loyalist troops, his status may not be so clear. Five days into their captivity, it's unclear why troops still will not allow them to leave. There is some evidence that Qaddafi or members of his regime may be holding them as unwitting bargaining chips to use with the Western governments leading NATO's air strikes. Whatever the nature of their detention, hopefully Fauntroy and the journalists will return home soon, as the former delegate's wife expects.
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