A group of 18 fishermen held captive in Benghazi since early September was finally freed on Thursday, ending a diplomatic stand-off between Italy and Libya.

“Our fishermen are free. In a few hours, they will be able to hug their families and their loved ones again,’’ Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook.

Di Maio and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte made an unannounced trip to Benghazi in eastern Libya and met local military leader Khalifa Haftar, according to the statement.

The fishermen, eight Italians, six Tunisians, two Senegalese, and two Indonesians were part of two fishing boats that set off from the Sicilian port of Mazara del Vallo.

On Sept. 1, they were intercepted at sea by forces loyal to Haftar, accused of breach of territorial waters, arrested, and brought to Benghazi.

The terms of their release were not immediately clear.

Di Maio thanked Italy’s intelligence and diplomatic services for working to bring the men home.

Haftar’s forces were demanding a prisoner exchange involving four Libyans convicted in Italy for human trafficking and for causing a 2015 migrant boat shipwreck in which 49 died.

The Libyans received lengthy jail sentences, but the Libyan side insists they were only professional footballers who got on a migrant boat in the hope of reaching Germany