Libya PM summons Egypt envoy over Gaddafi-era officials

TRIPOLI 

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has summoned the Egyptian ambassador over what he called the "media appearance" of Qaddafi-era officials in Egypt.

"We summoned the Egyptian envoy and conveyed our disturbance at the media appearance of Qaddafi-era officials in Cairo which poses a threat to Libyan security and revolution," Zeidan said in a press release late Thursday.

An Egyptian court on Tuesday acquitted Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam, a cousin of Gaddafi, of charges that he had tried to kill two Egyptian police officers early this year.

"We told the envoy about the disturbance of Libyan authorities of Gaddaf al-Dam's TV appearance after his acquittal," Zeidan said.

Gaddaf al-Dam, who was the coordinator of Libyan-Egyptian relations under Gaddafi, is on a list of former Gaddafi regime officials living in Egypt and demanded by the Libyan authorities.

Libyan authorities accuse remnants of the Gaddafi regime of fomenting unrest in the country from behind the curtains.

On Wednesday, Zeidan denied media reports that his country had severed its diplomatic relations with neighboring Egypt.

"The era for severing relations with Egypt has gone with [former autocrat Muammar] Gaddafi," Zeidan told a televised press conference from the Libyan capital Tripoli.

"Our relations with Egypt are far more important than one person," he asserted.

By Mohamed al-Nagem

englishnews@aa.com.tr