Branding the attack on Russia’s Tripoli embassy on Sunday by Syrian and Libyan protestors as a violation of the Vienna Convention . . .[restrict]of diplomatic relations, a senior Moscow official has demanded the NTC bring the perpetrators to justice.
Libyan government assurances that they will stop any further invasions of the embassy compound in Shara Mustafa Kemal have clearly not been enough to quell Russian anger. Moscow is demanding a full investigation and the arrest of the Syrians and Libyans involved.
The attack followed the Russian and Chinese UN Security Council vetoes against an Arab League resolution calling for governmental change in Syria.
Komstantin Dolgov of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced: “Moscow is deeply concerned with the unsanctioned protests in Tripoli that led to the violation of the Russian Ambassador’s immunity. This is a major violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, and stems from an incorrect interpretation of Russia’s stance on Syria expressed in the UN Security Council. Libyan authorities should conduct a thorough investigation into the attack.”
A similar attack on the Chinese embassy on Monday was nipped in the bud by quick-acting Libyan security forces. They drove an anti-aircraft gun truck across the main gates. They then persuaded the protestors to let the Syrian oppoistion and Libyan flags, which they wanted to hoist over the embassy, be draped instead over the ant-aircraft gun’s barrels. The embassy suffered nothing worse than some broken windows, and egg and tomatoes bombardment and some graffiti on its outer walls. The crowd of some 200 demonstrators dispersed shortly afterwards.
Had the Chinese diplomatic building been subjected to a carbon copy of the Russian embassy invasion, the NTC would have been deeply embarrassed, because of the high level Chinese trade delegation currently visiting the country. [/restrict]
