Libyan embassy in Manila raises rebel flag

Libyan expatriates and embassy personnel raise a Libyan flag, used by the Kingdom of Libya before Moammar Gadhafi's regime, on Wednesday at the Libyan Embassy in Makati City. AP

MANILA, Philippines—Diplomats and expatriates at Libya’s embassy in Manila smashed portraits of Moammar Gadhafi and raised the rebel flag in the latest in a month-long wave of defections against the longtime leader at Libyan missions worldwide.

A Libyan expat destroys a portrait of Col. Moammar Gadhafi at the Libyan Embassy in Makati City. AP

This as the Libyan embassy in the Philippines defected to the rebel forces and had written the Department of Foreign Affairs it will change its flag to that of the National Transitional Council starting Wednesday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

“We received a note verbale from the Libyan embassy that they will be hoisting the NTC flag starting this morning,” Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesman said on Wednesday.

Libyan consul Faraj Zarroug said about 85 percent of his country’s 165 diplomatic missions around the globe have recognized the interim rebel government, National Transitional Council.

Zarroug said Gadhafi’s power has plummeted, adding: “It’s game over.”

Diplomats at the mission in the Philippine capital pulled down Gadhafi’s green flag and raised the rebel one Wednesday while young expatriates smashed glass-covered portraits.

Zarroug said pro-democracy rebel forces are fighting pockets of Gadhafi loyalists in the Libyan capital, but that “Probably in a few days, everything will be over.”

Libyan embassy officials are still accorded diplomatic status as their accreditations have not been recalled, according to Hernandez. With Nancy Carvajal, Philippine Daily Inquirer