Canada expels Libyan diplomats

OTTAWA: Canada on Tuesday ordered Libya's diplomats to leave the country within five days and cut off their access to the embassy's bank accounts, in a bid to further isolate the regime of Moamer Kadhafi.

"These people now have five business days to vacate the embassy and leave the country," Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement.

A spokesman for Baird said four diplomats at the embassy had been declared "personae non gratae."

Canada is one of the leading nations in a NATO-led alliance that has conducted an aerial bombing campaign against the Kadhafi regime since March, when the United Nations approved action to protect civilians.

Ottawa has contributed six F-18 fighter planes and a frigate, and the NATO mission is led by a Canadian.

Baird, on his first trip as foreign minister in June, met with Libyan rebel leaders during an unannounced visit to Benghazi, the rebel capital in eastern Libya.

He had commented in a conference call with Canadian journalists that the National Transitional Council (NTC) represented "the best hope for the future of Libya."

Canada had already recognized Libya's NTC before Baird's visit, which came as NATO allies marked the 100th day of their bombing campaign in the oil-rich North African country.

Western nations have sought to ramp up the pressure on the Kadhafi regime.

The United States tightened its sanctions against Libya-controlled banks in June, and on Tuesday the European Union slapped further sanctions on the regime, targeting two "economic entities" linked to Kadhafi.

The NTC on Tuesday also officially took over at the Libyan embassy in London, opening its doors as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people in Britain.

It has a representative in Canada but no decision has been taken yet about whether the NTC would take over the vacated Libyan embassy in Ottawa.

Ottawa recalled its ambassador to Tripoli and shuttered its embassy in February, weeks after the anti-Kadhafi protests first erupted. (AFP)