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Malta ends visa exemption for Libyan diplomats

Xinhua, March 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday that the archipelago has temporarily suspended the agreement on the exemption of the visa requirement for Libyan diplomatic and special passport holders.

The Prime Minister explained this was done as a precaution because the government had information that a passport facility in Sirte, the birthplace of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, had been taken over by terrorists.

"We have to be vigilant and careful but proceed with our own life and our future but there is no cause for alarm," Muscat said.

The country's Ministry for Foreign Affairs also informed that with immediate effect, it is to introduce the obligation of an entry visa requirement for these passports.

Libya has been witnessing frayed political process since the 2011 turmoil, in which Muammar Gaddafi was ousted, and it is now juggling two rival parliaments and governments. Endit