Canada withdraws consular staff from Libya as violence plagues country

Black smoke billows over the skyline as a fire at the oil depot for the airport rages out of control after being struck in the crossfire of warring militias battling for control of the airfield, in Tripoli, Libya on Monday, July 28, 2014. Photo: AP Photo/Mohammed Ben Khalifa

OTTAWA — The Canadian government is temporarily suspending its consular operations in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and pulling out all staff.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Lynne Yelich, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, cite an “unpredictable security environment.”

They say Canada’s charge d’affaires and Canadian diplomats in Tripoli will temporarily work out of the Canadian embassy in Tunisia.

Libya is witnessing one of the worst bouts of violence more than three years after the downfall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Libya’s interim government, which relies on militias filled with rebels who battled Gadhafi’s forces for security, now finds itself unable to rein them in.

In this Saturday, July 26, 2014 frame grab from video obtained from a freelance journalist traveling with the Misarata brigade, fighters from the Islamist Misarata brigade fire towards Tripoli airport in an attempt to wrest control from a powerful rival militia, in Tripoli, Libya. (AP Photo/AP video)

On Saturday, the United States also evacuated its diplomats from Tripoli to neighbouring Tunisia and shut its embassy.

“The government of Canada takes the safety and security of our diplomats abroad very seriously,” said the joint statement from Baird and Yelich.

They stressed this decision is based solely on security concerns and Canada “remains committed to supporting Libya’s democratic transition.”

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the International Committee of the Red Cross have already withdrawn their staff as well.