Libya - Feb 9, 2012 - 20:02

Libya is expelling Syria's top envoy and his staff from the country to protest Damascus' crackdown on dissent.

Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Saad Elshlmani says the Syrian charge d'affaires and the embassy staff on Thursday were given 72 hours to leave the country.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the "Libyan people, who triumphed in their revolution over tyranny and dictatorship, can only stand by the oppressed people ... who are fighting for their freedom.'' [AP]