A bomb exploded in an eastern Libyan town where a UN special envoy was due to meet Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, but there were no casualties, officials said.

One government official said at least one car bomb went off in front of the security headquarters in the eastern city of Shahat.

Thinni and UN envoy Bernadino Leon were due to meet in a different building, and a security official said the blast had been near the venue of the meeting of other government officials.

Libya is in turmoil as two governments and parliaments allied to armed groups who helped toppled Muammar Gaddafi three years ago vie for power and control of the country's oil wealth.

Thinni, the country's internationally recognised premier, has worked out of Bayda near Shahat since former anti-Gaddafi rebels led from the city of Misrata seized the capital Tripoli and installed a rival government and parliament.

In the main eastern city of Benghazi 300 people have been killed in three weeks of clashes. The recent turmoil has also lowered Libya's oil exports to below 500,000 barrels per day, based on previous published figures.

In a statement this afternoon Foreign Affairs, George Vella said the Maltese government condemned the attack. He underlined Malta's unequivocal support to the work carried out by Special Envoy Leon and his team.

In another statement later, Dr Vella said he contaced Mr Leon and conveyed his concerns and those of the Prime Minister. He also expressed his relief that Mr Leon was unhurt.

Dr Vella and Mr Leon briefly discussed the situation on the ground and the implications of such actions.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.