Spain Expels Libyan Ambassador, Embassy Officials
Spain said Thursday it was booting out Libya's ambassador over the Gadhafi regime's repression of civilians and expelling three embassy officials for unspecified activities.
Madrid told Ambassador Ageli Abdussalam Ali Breni he had 10 days to leave the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The government of Spain has decided to end the mission of the ambassador accredited to Madrid by the Tripoli authorities, the Gadhafi regime having lost all legitimacy for its continued repression of the Libyan people," it said.
Spain also ejected three Libyan embassy officials who "were undertaking activities incompatible with their diplomatic status", it said, using a diplomatic formula often employed to describe espionage.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman declined to comment further on the allegations against the three embassy officials.
There was no answer at the Libyan embassy switchboard after normal office hours.
Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez announced June 8 that Spain recognized the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) as the "sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people".
"Spain will help the Libyan people; we want a democratic country with rights and freedoms," Jimenez said during a visit to rebel-held Benghazi after talks with the NTC.
Jimenez promised Spain would pursue humanitarian aid to the Libyan people and called for international financial mechanisms to help the rebellion against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Spain, which has posted a diplomat in Benghazi since April to strengthen dialogue with the NTC, is part of the NATO-led international military operation aimed at preventing attacks on civilians in Libya.
Madrid has sent four F-18 fighter jets and a Boeing 707-refueling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
It has also deployed a frigate, the S7-74 submarine Tramontana and a CN-235 maritime patrol plane to enforce an arms embargo.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and visiting NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen agreed here Thursday that military, political and economic pressure must be kept up against Gadhafi, the premier's office said in a statement.
"Rodriguez Zapatero reiterated that Spain will continue participating in the NATO military operations in support of the U.N. in Libya until their conclusion and in their current format," it said.
NATO's Rasmussen told a conference in Madrid earlier in the day that NATO had "prevented a massacre" in Libya and would keep up the pressure on Gadhafi to pave the way for a political solution.
"Together, we have prevented a massacre. We have saved countless lives," he said.
"We have seriously degraded the ability of the Gadhafi regime to attack civilians. We have opened air and sea access for humanitarian assistance. And we have closed it to arms and mercenaries," he added.
NATO has carried out nearly three months of air strikes against Gadhafi's forces in support of the uprising against his regime.
But signs of strain have emerged recently in the NATO effort as Gadhafi digs in his heels.
Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday admonished NATO allies, saying shrinking military budgets put both the Libya mission and the alliance's future at risk.
On Tuesday, senior brass from Britain and France, key players in the Libya campaign, publicly worried about how to maintain an operation just extended a further three months from June 27.
Source: Agence France Presse
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