Sudan consul detained for Libya 'suspicious' visits

BENGHAZI, Libya - A Libyan official said Wednesday that the Sudanese consul in Libya has been detained for making "suspicious" visits in the eastern part of the country.

"The Sudanese consul in Libya Abdel-Halim Omar has made several tours in the eastern part of the country without permission from the Libyan Foreign Ministry," Hassan al-Saghir, an undersecretary in the Tobruk-run Foreign Ministry, told The Anadolu Agency.

He cited that the Sudanese diplomat had recently visited a military prison in eastern Libya without permission.

"The visit has made prison officials suspect the consul and detained him," he said.

According to the Libyan official, the Sudanese consul also made unauthorized visits to several areas in Libya, including the eastern city of Benghazi.

Earlier Wednesday, Sudan summoned Libya's ambassador in Khartoum to demand an "unconditional release" of the consul.

A Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the consul had been detained on Tuesday as he was checking in on Sudanese nationals being held at a Libyan prison in the central Al-Baydaa province.

Libya's Tobruk-based government accuses Sudan of supporting Islamist militias in the fractious North African country - claims dismissed by Khartoum.

Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the decades-long rule of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.

Since then, the country's stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each with its own institutions and military capacities.

Vying for legislative authority are the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Islamist-led General National Congress, which convenes in capital Tripoli.

The two assemblies support two rival governments respectively headquartered in the two cities.