Tripoli — Libya is expelling Syria's top envoy and his staff from the country to protest Damascus' crackdown on dissent.

Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Saad Elshlmani says the Syrian charge d'affaires and the embassy staff on Thursday were given 72 hours to leave the country.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the "Libyan people, who triumphed in their revolution over tyranny and dictatorship, can only stand by the oppressed (Syrian) people ... who are fighting for their freedom."

Libya joins the U.S. and a growing number of Arab and European countries who have reduced their diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime.

Libya's new leaders took over after rebel forces overthrew longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in an eight-month civil war last year.