Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Temporarily Suspends Diplomatic Contact with Libyan Embassy

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has said that diplomatic relations with the Libyan Embassy in Sofia will be suspended until the situation becomes more clear. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry will suspend contact with the Libyan Embassy in Sofia until the situation becomes clear, according to a media statement of Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov.

"In order to shed light on "who is who" at the Libyan Embassy at the moment, we shall freeze diplomatic relations until the situation becomes clear. I understand that the situation today has been quite dramatic.", Mladenov stated Monday, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA).

Earlier the same day, Bulgarian private TV channel bTV reported that a group of Libyan citizens, led by Ibrahim al-Furis, Adviser on Consular Affairs, had attacked the building, taking down the symbols of the Gaddafi regime, gaining control of the cash box and the stamp of the Diplomatic Representation and temporarily detaining the interim head of the Embassy.

The turmoil at the diplomatic mission coincided with the decision of the Foreign Ministry to declare al-Furis a persona non grata and to demand that he leave the country within 24 hours.

On Monday, a diplomatic note was handed to the interim head of the Libyan Embassy in Sofia declaring Ibrahim al-Furis a persona non grata in Bulgaria pursuant to Article 9 of the Vienna Convention.

Under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a receiving state may "at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable".

Minister Mladenov told journalists that the two events were unrelated.

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