UPDATE – Libya says Bernard-Henry Levy was ‘uninvited’

UPDATES WITH GOV’T STATEMENT

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Libya's Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha has denied reports of inviting controversial French Jewish intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy to visit Libya.

“The government has not officially invited any journalist to visit Libya,” Bashagha said on Twitter.

He accused certain parties of fishing in troubled waters “to set political scores."

"A visit by a journalist without an official invitation from the government has no political overtone and the public opinion has the absolute right to react to any public event," the minister said.

The Libyan government, meanwhile, vowed to take harsh measures against any party involved in Levy’s visit.

"The Presidential Council has no relation to or information about the visit,” premier Fayez al-Sarraj’s media office said in a statement.

“There was no coordination about this visit,” it said, vowing to take all legal measures against who is involved “in this act, which is a violation of legitimacy and the country’s laws”.

The visit by the Jewish writer, who is known for his staunch support to Israel, has triggered uproar in Libya, amid calls for probing those who granted him visa into the country.

Khalid al-Mishri, chairman of the Libyan High Council of State, said he was surprised by Levy’s visit to the city of Misrata, and called for an investigation to determine the authority that invited him into Libya.

Libya's Ambassador to France Hamed el-Houderi denied issuing a visa for the Jewish writer.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara