Brussels (ANTARA News/AFP) - Libya`s EU ambassador Hadeiba Hadi on Thursday said he was defecting along with all his staff to join the struggle for democracy, the latest in a string of top diplomats to quit Moamer Kadhafi.

In a statement sent to AFP the ambassador said: "After more than four months of the blood-letting of our people, my colleagues and myself at the Libyan popular bureau in Brussels find ourselves obliged to announce our decision to no longer represent the regime."

A European diplomatic source, confirming the defection, said Hadi was "a Libyan diplomatic heavyweight".

"His defection leaves the (Moamer) Kadhafi regime increasingly isolated."

The ambassador`s statement also said he and his staff were placing themselves "at the service of the Libyan people in its struggle for democracy, the rule of law and institutions, and the safeguard of the integrity of our country."

Several leading Libyan diplomats have quit the Libyan leader`s side in recent weeks, including the ambassadors for the United States, France, Portugal and even Paris-based UNESCO.

Former foreign minister Mussa Kussa, also onetime Libyan intelligence chief between 1994 and 2009 and a member of Kadhafi`s innermost circle, defected to London on March 30.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said oil minister Choukri Ghanem has also left and is in Tunisia but Tripoli has denied the claim. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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