Missing US writer escapes from Libya prison

BALTIMORE — The mother of an American writer missing since March in Libya says she has spoken with her son and that he told her he had escaped from a Tripoli prison.

Sharon VanDyke says she spoke with her 32-year-old son Matthew on Wednesday afternoon. He told her he had been held in solitary confinement in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, but fellow prisoners helped him escape.

Tripoli has been in chaos as rebel fighters have moved into the city in their push to take control of the country and oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.