Tripoli: Egypt`s ambassador and his staff
have left Libya for security reasons after the kidnapping of
five of their colleagues, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
"The ambassador and more than 50 staff and diplomats of
the Egyptian embassy left Tripoli on Saturday evening,"
ministry spokesman Saeed Lassoued told AFP.
The evacuation had been decided on security grounds, he
said, as Libyan authorities worked to secure the release of
the abducted diplomats.
Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani has implicitly
linked the kidnappings to the arrest in Egypt on Friday of a
prominent former Libyan rebel commander who fought in the 2011
uprising against Muammer Gaddafi.
Shaaban Hadeia, head of the Operations Centre of
Libya`s Thuwar (revolutionaries), was arrested in the
Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
"We await an explanation from our Egyptian brothers on
the accusations against Shaaban Hadeia," Marghani said late
Saturday, while condemning the kidnappings as a "criminal
act".
The foreign ministry, meanwhile, said it was in contact
with Cairo requesting information on Hadeia and seeking his
early release.
Kidnappers seized Egypt`s cultural attache and three
other embassy staff yesterday, a day after a group snatched
another Egyptian official in the city.
Egypt`s foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty has
confirmed Hadeia was detained in Egypt.
"If Hadeia`s involvement (in any case) is not
established, naturally we will release him," Abdelatty told
AFP, adding investigations were ongoing.
Abdelatty said the embassy in Tripoli was being
evacuated as a "temporary precautionary measure".
With growing insecurity in post-revolt Libya,
authorities have struggled to integrate rebel groups which
helped topple Gaddafi into the regular security forces.
Some militias have carved out their own fiefdoms, each
with its own ideology and regional allegiances.
