Veterans raid Libyan Consulate in Istanbul

ISTANBUL / ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Some 20 anti-Gadhafi fighters raided the Libyan Consulate General in Istanbul yesterday, however the incident ended when police and security forces intervened. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Some 20 anti-Gadhafi fighters brought to Turkey for medical treatment raided the Libyan Consulate General in Istanbul yesterday, while another group of Libyan veterans attempted to infiltrate the Libyan Embassy in Ankara.

The Libyan veterans who occupied the consulate general in Istanbul’s Gümüşsuyu district were later taken into custody by law enforcement officials after the consul general and security forces managed to persuade protesters to call off their act.

The incident in Ankara also ended peacefully, as embassy officials succeeded in talking the veterans out of the stand-off, according to reports.

Both Libyan groups allegedly decided to initiate the raids after financial assistance to them was cut off from Libya.

When the Libyan veterans in Ankara attempted to enter the embassy, police officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and refused to let them inside. Following the arrival of dozens of police officers to the scene, however, embassy officials eventually agreed to meet three individuals from the group.

The incident ended when the veterans finally left the embassy.

The news comes after an assailant of Libyan origin was captured dead by security forces in Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace Museum last week after he wounded two security personnel and initiated a gunfight lasting about one and a half hours.

To date, more than 1,800 Libyans have received medical treatment in Turkey for injuries they received in recent conflict that saw the downfall of strongman Moammar Gadhafi, according to figures provided by Libyan Minister of Martyrs, Wounded and Missing People Abdurrahman el-Kisa.