Following the fall of Tripoli, scores of Libyan nationals celebrated what they perceived as the fall of long-time leader, Muammar Gaddafi by replacing the old uni-coloured green flag, with the striped NTC flag.
But the Zimbabwean government described the new flag as unacceptable and immediately ordered that it be pulled down.“Flying the flag of the National Transitional Council in Harare is an illegal act under the laws of Zimbabwe,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement to the Libyan ambassador, Taher El Magrahi.
But El Magrahi shot back, arguing that the new flag that had been hoisted was in fact the original flag of the country’s independence in 1951.El Magrahi has since been ordered out of the country and is expected to leave today or in the next three days, as Zimbabwe said it did not have diplomatic relations with the NTC.
The Libyan ambassador on Friday called a press conference, which he cancelled abruptly without offering an explanation.
