DHAKA: The former Libyan prime minister, Ali Zeidan, has defied a travel ban and fled the country hours after parliament removed him from office in a no-confidence vote.

Zeidan was in Malta for two hours late on Tuesday on a refuelling stop before going to ‘another European country’, the island’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, said, reports Al Jazeera.

The Muscat told state-owned television channel, TVM, that he spoke briefly to Zeidan, who was banned from travelling abroad because of his suspected involvement in the embezzlement of public funds.

Zeidan spent many years in exile in Germany and it is believed he may head there.

Libya’s parliament voted Zeidan out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces.

BDST: 1949 HRS, MAR 12, 2014