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Middle East and North Africa

Russian embassy in Libya may be reopened

Acceptable conditions need to be provided for Russian diplomats

Photo EPA/SABRI ELMHEDWI

Photo EPA/SABRI ELMHEDWI

MOSCOW, October 10 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Foreign Ministry will mull the resumption of the country’s embassy in Libya, North Africa, when the country is convinced that acceptable conditions are provided for Russian diplomats, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Aleksander Lukashevich told a news briefing here on Thursday.

“We intend to take the resumption of our diplomatic mission in Libya in a well-balanced and complex way. Libyan authorities assured us that necessary measures to ensure security of the embassy are already being taken,” he said.

The spokesman added that Moscow was waiting for information about the fate of Russian citizen Yekaterina Ustyuzhaninova, whose actions provoked assault on the embassy.

“No news about her has reached us so far,” he added.

“The recent abduction of Libya’s prime minister by terrorists and his eventual release were resh evidence of how grave security problems in the country are,” said Lukashevich.

Russian diplomats and members of their families evacuated from Libya to Tunis after Wednesday’s armed attack by unidentified gunmen on the Russian embassy in Tripoli have arrived in Moscow.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s plane with 51 people onboard that left Tunisia’s Djerba last Friday landed at 10:37 in Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport.

Russian diplomats continue work

Russian diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Libya that are staying in Tunisia continue to deal with the fate of Russian citizens Aleksander Shadrov and Vladimir Dolgov, Lukashevich said. “Naturally, they will continue to deal with the issue despite the remoteness from Libya,” he said.

Lukashevich recalled that the court in Libya had previously ruled to review the criminal case against the Russian citizens, who were sentenced to long terms in prison by the military court. “The court of appeal in the city of Tripoli will try the criminal case. As far as we are concerned, it is not terminated yet, the trial did not begin,” he added.

“The group of diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Libya that are staying in Tunisia is keeping in contact with Libyan authorities and is keeping this issue under strict control as much as it is possible due to the remoteness from Libya. They have got in touch with the authorities from the Libyan city of Zintan, where the Russian citizens are staying, and received assurances that our compatriots are in safety,” Lukashevich noted.

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