The Egyptian workers held in custody of gunmen in Libya last week over financial dispute between their Egyptian partner and Libyan contractors, have been freed, a relative of them has reported.

The governor of Kafr Al-Sheikh - where the Egyptian come from - said the dispute was resolved after operation between the Libyan and Egyptian ministries.

16 Egyptian hostage workers were detained four days ago in Tobruk, east of Libya, after their partner had been accused by Libyan contractors of escaping to Egypt with 100.000 Libyan dinars.

Meanwhile, a brother of one of the kidnapped said his brother had been released after local contractors paid out the money they owe, while the rest signed paper vowing to stay in Libya and work to pay out the whole sum, Reuters reported.

Residents of the small village which the kidnapped workers came from — Al-Herda in the Nile Delta province of Kafr Al-Sheikh — earlier said that three of the hostages had escaped their captors but their whereabouts were not known.

One resident of the Egyptian village said his brother paid 7,000 Egyptian pounds ($390) to smugglers who helped him reach Libya through desert roads.

Libya's east has been plagued with lawlessness coupled with kidnaps and crimes despite the claims of Khalifa Haftar's forces that that had the region under full and secure control.