On 9 August, the House of Representatives (HoR) Committee of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation declared Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Perrone as a ‘persona non-grata’. The decree is in response to his comments during a television interview last week which were widely interpreted as dismissing Libyan elections.
Perrone’s comments have continued to provoke small demonstrations, notably on 10 August, with locals in Sabratha, Surman and Zawiyya in Western Libya protesting against Italian interference in Libyan affairs. Likewise, on 10 August, local communities from Benghazi and Tubruq demonstrated against Perrone’s statements.