Libya car bomb at French Embassy

A car bomb in Tripoli wounded two French guards at France’s embassy in Libya yesterday, bringing new violence to a capital that has not seen attacks on diplomats like that which killed the US ambassador in Benghazi last year.

The embassy was now out of action and staff would move elsewhere

Since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled by Western-backed rebels in late 2011, Tripoli, like the rest of the sprawling desert state, has been awash with weapons and roving armed bands, but violence in the city has not targeted diplomats before in the way Western envoys have been shot at and bombed in the east of the country.

“This is an attack that targets not only France but all countries that fight against terrorist groups,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris before flying out to inspect the damage to the embassy.

One of the two wounded French guards required emergency surgery in Tripoli, he added.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan joined him at the scene of the explosion and together they also visited the damaged homes of residents nearby.

Security will be stepped up across a region where France has taken a leading role of late, first in pushing for a Nato air campaign to defend the Benghazi-based rebels from Gaddafi’s forces, and most recently mounting its own assault in its former colony of Mali against Islamist insurgents who have profited from arms and fighters coming over the Sahara border from Libya.

President Francois Hollande said: “France expects the Libyan authorities to shed light on this unacceptable act so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice.”

Libya’s Government, struggling to exert its authority, said it was a “terrorist act” aimed at destabilising their country, and ministers said they would work with French investigators.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the hours after the early morning blast, which caused extensive damage, but al-Qaeda’s North African arm, AQIM, threatened retaliation for the French intervention in Mali as recently as last week.

Interior Minister Ashour Shuail told a press conference he could not say whether the strike was linked to the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi last year, but said a commission had been set up to investigate the blast.

The minister added a diplomatic security force would be active in the country within days.

Westerners in the region have been on alert since January’s bloody mass hostage-taking at the In Amenas natural gas plant in Algeria, close to the Libyan and Malian frontiers, during which militants demanded Paris halt operations in Mali.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said France had not received any specific threat against the Tripoli embassy but it had been aware of a generally increased risk, adding that the embassy was now out of action and staff would move elsewhere.

He said France had asked Libyan authorities to strengthen security around French institutions, which were now all closed, including a cultural centre and a school.

“This is a very worrying sign for the Government,” one Western diplomat said. “It will be a further deterrent for companies who have so far been reluctant to come to Libya.”

In the chaos following Gaddafi’s overthrow and death, there have been attacks on diplomats, notably in Benghazi in the east.

In September, the US Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed at Washington’s consulate in the city, which is the hub for the lucrative oil industry. US officials say militants with ties to al-Qaeda were most likely involved in that attack, but no group has credibly claimed responsibility.