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Spain excluded from distribution of air miles, Libya likewise (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

similarly

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'likewise' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'spain excluded from distribution of air miles libya' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'miles' could be 'm' (common abbreviation) and 'm' is located in the answer.
'libya' could be 'lar' (I've seen this before) and 'lar' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for similarly that I've seen is " In like manner".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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