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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 17 November 2014:
Rumours that the Maltese Ambassador, Manie Galea, has been withdrawn from Tripoli following complaints from . . .[restrict]the Beida-based government of Abdullah Al-Thinni, and that Malta is planning to open an embassy in Tobruk have been firmly denied by the Maltese Foreign Ministry.
In statement today, it said that Ambassador Galea had never been declared persona non grata by the Libyan authorities, that he had simply returned to Malta for consultations as per normal practice, and that there was no intention of sending an ambassador to Tobruk or of closing the embassy in Tripoli. The embassy’s continued presence in the capital was, the ministry said, “an expression of the solidarity that the Maltese authorities have shown, and will continue to show, with the Libyan people”.
While the Ambassador was away, the statement added, a Chargé d’Affaires would be running the mission on an interim basis. The statement also declared that the Maltese authorities “have never, and will never, interfere in the internal affairs of Libya”.
The Libyan rumour mill has been hyper active of late about the plans of the international community regarding Libya. Last week, in the wake of the Constitutional Court’s ruling again the House of Representatives, the German authorities had to issue a statement dismissing reports that, as a result, they had invited members of Omar Al-Hassi’s administration to visit Germany. [/restrict]
