Libyan ambassador expelled from UK amid Tripoli attacks

William Hague said on Sunday the Libyan ambassador had been given 24 hours to leave the country after the UK embassy in Tripoli was attacked by a mob.

Italian officials also condemned a “grave and vile” attack on their nation’s embassy in the Libyan capital after smoke was seen rising from the building.

Britain currently has no diplomatic presence in Tripoli after closing the embassy earlier this year as the situation in Libya deteriorated.

Most Western governments evacuated staff several weeks ago when NATO air strikes began. The United Nations said on Sunday it was evacuating its international staff from Tripoli.

Diplomatic missions belonging to a number of NATO states and the UN have been targeted after an alliance attack reportedly killed Muammar Gaddafi’s youngest son and three of his grandchildren.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “I condemn the attacks on the British Embassy premises in Tripoli as well as the diplomatic missions of other countries.

The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya. William Hague

“The Vienna Convention requires the Qadhafi (sic) 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.

“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 attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya.”

‘Attack on Gaddafi’

Earlier the Libyan government said a NATO air strike had killed Colonel Gaddafi’s youngest son, Saif al-Arab, and three “pre-teen” grandchildren in the Bab al-Aziziyah area of Tripoli (pictured above).

The Libyan leader was in the house at the time of the attack but was unharmed and is in “good health”, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said.

Saif, 29, was one of Gaddafi’s less prominent sons and was described by officials as a student who had studied in Germany.

“This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country,” Ibrahim said. “This is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or principle.”

The deaths have not been independently confirmed.

The UK Foreign Office on Sunday said it could not verify reports of who was killed in the attack.

NATO denied directly targeting Gaddafi amid political concerns that the alliance had gone beyond the UN resolution.

Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the attacks in Libya were in line with the UN resolution which allows the British and French-led coalition to protect civilians.

Cameron declined to comment on what he called the “unconfirmed report” about members of Gaddafi’s family being killed.

NATO confirmed it had launched air strikes on military targets in the area but denied targeting individuals.

“NATO continued its precision strikes against regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Aziziyah neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening,” the alliance said in a statement.

NATO’s commander of Libya operations, Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, said the target was part of a strategy to hit command centres that threaten civilians.

“All NATO’s targets are military in nature…We do not target individuals,” he said in a statement.