British women raped by Libyan soldiers

The female British activists, two of whom are sisters, were taking part in an aid convoy bound for Gaza that intended to try to break the Israeli blockade.

Libyan deputy prime minister Awad al-Barassi, who visited the women in the hospital, said the victims were travelling with two male companions when they were kidnapped on Tuesday on their way to the Benghazi airport after deciding to return to Britain.

"Sadly [the perpetrators] belong to army, but they don't reflect the ethics of Libya army," Mr al-Barassi said in an interview with the national Libya al-Hurra television channel.

"I visited the rape victims. They are in a very bad psychological state. They were raped in front of others, in front of their father. This is a heinous crime," he added.

The 10-vehicle convoy had been carrying medical supplies and was named the "Mavi Marmara" in honour of a ship involved in a 2010 deadly flotilla incident, according to Huseyin Oruc of IHH, a Turkish humanitarian relief organisation.

He said the women, who are British of Pakistani origin, were attacked and robbed, and that their abductors included a taxi driver and a group of men in military uniforms.

A resident in the city of Benghazi told The Daily Telegraph that the perpetrators of the crime came from an armed group calling themselves "The First Unit", which forms part of the Libyan armed forces.

Less than two years on from the civil war, the government is struggling to bring militia groups under its control. Many have been incorporated into the country's new armed forces, but discipline is scant.

IHH mediated the release of the kidnapped women and men after they were contacted by the convoy's organisers and to help. By Friday three of the perpetrators were believed to have been caught and imprisoned.

The father and his daughters were scheduled to return to Britain.