Russia evacuates diplomats after embassy in Libya attacked
Russia evacuated all of its diplomats and their families from Libya, the day after a mob attack on the Russian Embassy, and issued a warning to its citizens against visiting the country.
Russia yesterday evacuated all of its diplomats and their families from Libya, the day after a mob attack on the Russian Embassy, and issued a warning to its citizens against visiting the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said none of the embassy staff was hurt in Wednesday's attack, which came in response to the death of a Libyan air force officer who was allegedly killed by a Russian woman.
An armed mob broke into the embassy compound in the Libyan capital Tripoli, climbing over walls, breaking down a metal gate and shooting in the air. One of the attackers was killed by the gunfire, and four more were wounded, Libyan officials said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said yesterday that Moscow decided to evacuate the embassy after Libya's Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz visited its grounds and told the Russian ambassador that Libya was unable to protect the personnel.
Lukashevich added that all the embassy workers and their families safely crossed the border into Tunisia yesterday. He said that the Libyan authorities had promised to protect Russian assets and try to quickly restore conditions for the safe operations of the embassy.
Several senior diplomats will stay in Tunisia to maintain contacts with Libya, while the rest of the embassy workers were to be flown to Moscow today, Lukashevich said.