The Italian Embassy said it will start issuing visas from Tobruk as of July 09

The Defense and National Security Committee of House of Representatives has demanded an official apology from the Italian Embassy in Tripoli over a recent meme tweet mocking the Committee’s list of alleged “terrorists.”

“The Italian Ambassador, Giuseppe Perrone, have been informed orally of our decision to declare him persona non grata,” the parallel Libyan News Agency in Tobruk quoted head of the Committee Tala Al-Mayhoob as saying on Tuesday.

Al-Mayhoob also declared that the Committee is about to issue another decision to ban Ambassador Perrone from entering the areas under their control.

Earlier this month, the Defense and National Security Committee issued a “terrorism” list that included 75 lawmakers, politicians, military officers, clerics, activists and journalists in addition to entities; all are foes of Dignity Operation.

The list was met with nationwide criticism. The Italian Embassy tweeted a meme to make fun of the list, which the Committee described as “derogatory.”   

The Embassy deleted the meme on June 14 after a wash of negative replies.

“We deleted our meme tweet as we noticed the resentment it generated in some. We meant no disrespect to anyone.” The Embassy explained in a tweet.

The Italian Embassy said on Tuesday it will start issuing visas from the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk as of July 09. The Embassy started issuing visas for Libyan citizens from its headquarters in Tripoli on April 02.