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Libyan ambassador to Malta: Foreign militants involved in revolt

Arab World Materials 24 February 2011 17:02 (UTC +04:00)
Libya's ambassador to Malta on Thursday said some 2,500 foreign "operatives," many linked to al-Qaeda, were involved in revolts against Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi
Libyan ambassador to Malta: Foreign militants involved in revolt

Libya's ambassador to Malta on Thursday said some 2,500 foreign "operatives," many linked to al-Qaeda, were involved in revolts against Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, DPA reported.

Saadun Suayeh, unlike some of Libya's ambassadors in other countries has, remains loyal to Gaddafi. He spoke at a news conference held under tight security at the embassy buildings.

Dozens of Libyans living in Malta, have in recent days held protests in front of the embassy calling on Suayeh to resign.

The ambassador said only "small" parts of Libya's eastern regions had fallen to anti-government forces.

"It is estimated that there were up to 2,500 foreign operatives working in the eastern parts of Libya. They were mostly responsible for the killings and the trouble," Suayeh said.

Suayeh urged Maltese journalists to go to Libya to see for themselves that claims that civilian demonstrators were being bombed by government forces were not true. He said Libyan authorities would organise such visits.

Suayeh also said that foreign ambassadors to Libya will on Thursday be taken on tours of areas allegedly bombed by government forces.

The death toll from the disturbance was around 300 according to Suayeh who denied reports - described on Wednesday as plausible by Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini - that over 1,000 people have been killed.

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