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Libya’s ambassador to EU defects

27 May 2011 05:01 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Libyan ambassador to the EU has defected along with his staff to join the ongoing revolutionary movement against embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi, APA reports quoting Press TV.

"After more than four months of the blood-letting of our people, my colleagues and myself at the Libyan popular bureau in Brussels find ourselves obliged to announce our decision to no longer represent the regime," AFP quoted Libya’s EU ambassador Hadeiba Hadi as saying on Thursday.

The ambassador said in a statement that he and his staff would be "at the service of the Libyan people in its struggle for democracy, the rule of law and institutions, and the safeguard of the integrity of our country."

EU diplomats have reportedly said that the defection of Hadeiba followed a period of discussion with the European Union officials.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed the decision made by the ambassador to break ranks with the Tripoli regime.

"The High Representative welcomes the decision by... Mr Al Hadi Hadeiba, to sever links with the Gaddafi regime, in protest at the violent repression of the Libyan people," Ashton’s spokesman Michael Mann said.

This is while Libyan ambassadors for the US, France, Portugal and Paris-based UNESCO have also defected from Gaddafi’s regime in recent months in protest over the violence in the North African country.

On May 17, Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem defected and left for Tunisia.

Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, Interior Minister Abdel-Fatah Younes, and Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul-Jalil have all defected since the beginning of the revolution in mid-February.