By Libya Herald staff.
Cairo, 9 April 2015:
A fresh diplomatic row has broken out between Libya and Sudan, this time over the . . .[restrict]arrest and detention of Sudan’s Consul-General in Libya.
Abdel Hakim Omer was visiting Sudanese detainees at the prison when he was himself detained yesterday by police. He was released this evening after the Sudanese Foreign Ministry voiced its protests of what it called an “unlawful detention” that went against international laws and diplomatic conventions.
In Khartoum, the Foreign Ministry summoned Libyan Ambassador to Sudan Mohamed Soula to express condemnation of the detention and to demand that Omer be released immediately.
Although some in the Beida-based government denied that Omer was detained, or professed to know nothing about it, the new Libyan government spokesperson Hatem Al-Oraibi told the press that Omer was detained because he had made unauthorised visits to the military prison without going through the customary channels to receive permission.
The spokesperson also said that Omer had made what the Libyan government viewed as “suspicious” visits to several other places in eastern Libya.
Relations with Sudan have been strained ever since Libya Dawn forced the Thinni government to quit Tripoli. Sudan was accused of providing Libya Dawn with arms and supplies, an accusation Khartoum has insistently denied. It has publicly changed its policy on Libya, stating its recognition of the House of Representatives and the Thinni government. However, not all HoR supporters believe it.
In January, the government banned Sudanese for entering Libya because of concerns that some might be aiding and abetting terrorists in Libya. The ban was lifted six weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, the economic attaché at the Sudanese embassy in Tripoli was briefly kidnapped. The reason for the abduction has still not been revealed.
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