TRIPOLI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan Foreign Ministry on Friday denied that a Libyan national arrested in Malta for drug trafficking is a diplomat.
The detainee under charges of narcotics trafficking in Malta "is not a diplomat and not an employee of the Libyan Foreign Ministry," the ministry's information office said in a statement.
"He was working as a security guard at the embassy under a local contract lasting seven years. His services were terminated," the statement said.
"The defendant is a Maltese citizen ... subject to Maltese law. The case is still with the Maltese court," the statement explained.
The statement confirmed that the Maltese authorities had been informed that the person mentioned in the media reports was not a Libyan diplomat.
"The foreign ministry does not tolerate any attempt to negatively affect the image of Libyan diplomats, and especially Libyan ethics in general. What the media did in search of excitement was a wrong trend," the statement added.
Local media in Malta last week said three persons in a drug trafficking network, involving a Libyan diplomat working at the Libyan embassy in Valletta, were arrested.
A kilo and a half of cocaine and 72,000 Euros were seized in the car of the alleged "Libyan diplomat," according to Maltese media.