Four Italian journalists who were kidnapped on Wednesday and whose driver was killed are now being held by pro-Qaddafi militants in Tripoli, according to news reports.

The Italian journalists were abducted just after thirty-five journalists who had been trapped in the Rixos hotel for days were finally freed.

Unknown men stopped their vehicle near Zawiya, a town some 30km from Tripoli. After their driver was killed and they were robbed, the group was handed over to Qaddafi loyalists, reports said.

Italian consul in Libya Guido De Sanctis has reportedly spoken with one of the journalists, who said they were unharmed and being held somewhere between the Rixos hotel and Qaddafi’s compound in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, where heavy fighting between rebels and the remnants of Qaddafi’s supporters continues.

Reports said that the four were Elisabetta Rosaspina and Giuseppe Sarcina of Corriere della Sera; La Stampa daily newspaper’s Domenico Quirico; and Claudio Monici of the Catholic newspaper Avvenire.

According to a report in the Corriere, the journalists may have been kidnapped to punish Italy, whose prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is scheduled to meet the head of the anti-Qaddafi National Transitional Council, Chairman Mohammed Abdul Jalil, this afternoon.

“We call for the immediate release of Elisabetta Rosaspina, Giuseppe Sarcina, Domenico Quirico and Claudio Monici,” said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills. “We reiterate our call on all parties to respect the fundamental rights of journalists, and to allow them to do their work without being targeted.”