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Friday, 03 July_Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country will relaunch its Libya embassy, temporarily basing it in Tunisia, as a conflict escalates between rival Libyan sides.
“We took a decision to reopen the Russian embassy in Libya, which will at this stage be headed by Charge d’Affaires Jamshed Boltaev,” Lavrov said at a meeting with the speaker of Libya’s pro-rebel parliament, Aguila Saleh, on Friday.
Russia evacuated embassy staff and their families from Libya in October 2013 after an armed faction attacked the diplomatic mission in Tripoli.
Libya has been in chaos since 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Russia has backed the rebels in the Libyan conflict, but it has denied accusations of providing them with radar systems and fighter jets.
Lavrov said the head of the embassy “will temporarily be based in Tunisia, but I want to emphasize that his functions include representing Russia across all [of] Libya’s territory.”
A major battle looms between Libyan government forces and the rebels over control of the strategic city of Sirte.
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