Britain finally gets mad at Gadhafi
In an earlier post, I reported that Seif al-Arab Gadhafi and his three sons, a son and three of the grandsons of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, were killed on Saturday night in a NATO attack on one of the Gadhafi family compounds. On Sunday, the Libyan leader exacted his revenge, letting his supporters loose on various NATO countries' embassies in Tripoli. Among the embassies attacked was Britain's. The destruction may be seen in the pictures above and below, which I screen-captured from a BBC video which can be viewed here.
The Brits, who didn't seem too phased when they discovered that they had been duped into releasing Pan Am 103 hijacker Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, finally decided enough was enough. They have given the Libyan ambassador to the UK, Omar Jelban (pictured below), 24 hours to leave the country.
"I condemn the attacks on the British embassy premises in Tripoli as well as the diplomatic missions of other countries," said the foreign secretary, William Hague. "The Vienna convention requires the Gaddafi regime to protect diplomatic missions in Tripoli. By failing to do so that regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations. I take the failure to protect such premises very seriously indeed."Here's a report from al-Jazeera on the expulsion of Libya's ambassador to the UK. Let's go to the videotape.
The statement went on: "As a result, I have taken the decision to expel the Libyan ambassador. He is persona non grata pursuant to article 9 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations and has 24 hours to leave the country."
...
The Gaddafi regime appears to have mounted a symbolic attack on empty diplomatic residences and embassies in Tripoli. There are no British diplomats in the Libyan capital.
Other foreign residences were also targeted, as the UN announced it was taking all its remaining international staff out of Tripoli.
The Italian foreign ministry said its embassy and several others in Tripoli were damaged by vandals and accused the Gaddafi regime of failing to take measures to protect foreign missions.
Let's see if anyone thinks twice about sending an ambassador back when things die down.
Labels: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Libya, Libyan regime change, Muammar Gaddafi, Omar Jelban, Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, Tripoli, United Kingdom, United Nations, Vienna Convention, William Hague
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:20 PM
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