Shown the door
July 31, 2011
Germany has expelled a senior Libyan diplomat due to his allegiance to Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
A spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry on Sunday confirmed an article in the newsmagazine Focus that reported Berlin had declared the diplomat a "persona non grata" and ordered him and his family to leave the country.
She said the ministry made the decision after consultations with security officials, but declined to detail what had led to the decision.
The magazine report identified the diplomat in question as Hisham al-Sharif, who it said had been appointed by Gadhafi's government as the Berlin embassy's charge d'affaires on July 22.
Objection fails to impress
The diplomat's lawyer objected to his expulsion, arguing that it would force him and his family to return to a country wracked by civil war, the report said.
The move follows the expulsion of nine of Gadhafi's diplomats by the British government last Wednesday.
The UK then asked Libyan rebels to send their own representatives to London.
Author: Chuck Penfold (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
Editor: Kyle James