Tuesday’s terrorist attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli has highlighted, once again, the worsening security situation in Libya, our backyard, which is threatening to spiral out of control and create a haven for jihadists.

The motive for the attack, which killed 14 people, remains unclear, as does on whose behalf, precisely, the gunmen were acting. But it does draw attention to just how lawless Libya has become.

The Tripoli government’s representative in Malta, Hussin Musrati, said that his Prime Minister, Omar al-Hassi, was inside the Corinthia at the time of the attack, and was the intended target of the terrorists who blew themselves up when cornered by security forces. A third man believed to be connected to the attack is reportedly under arrest.

Although a group calling itself the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, in retaliation for the 2013 capture of suspected terrorist Abu Anas al-Libi by US forces, Mr Musrati did not give much credibility to this claim.

Nor did he confirm the identity of the terrorists, which Islamic State said were Abu Ibrahim al-Tunisi, a Tunisian, and Abu Suleiman al-Sudani, a Sudanese.

Mr Musurati said the attack could also have been commissioned by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, who is allied to the Tobruk government (which is internationally recognised) or Gaddafi loyalists. And so the blame game goes on amid a number of conspiracy theories which shows just how confused and complicated the situation in Libya has become.

Whoever was responsible for this attack, it seems clear that the target was not the Corinthia Group or Malta, but what the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli has come to represent: namely a place where foreign businessmen and diplomats, including UN envoys, have so far been able to congregate in a relatively secure environment. If the Tripoli Corinthia stops operating this would undoubtedly reinforce Libya’s image as a failed State, which is exactly what the extremists want to achieve.

The instability in Libya is potentially Malta’s greatest security challenge. A failed State in Libya which becomes a haven for al-Qaeda and IS directly threatens our national security and our economy. We could be flooded with refugees fleeing the North African country and Malta could be a stepping stone for jihadist terrorists to attack targets on the European mainland, or we could even ourselves become a victim of such attacks.

Malta must exert more pressure on both the European Union and the United States to play more of a role in trying to stabilise the situation in Libya.

Foreign Minister George Vella emphasised to this newspaper last week that all Libyan peace initiatives should be channelled through the United Nations, but surely Brussels and Washington could join forces with the UN in trying to bring peace. The seriousness of the Libyan situation certainly dictates that a direct political role for the EU and US is needed.

There perhaps appeared to be a glimmer of hope last Thursday after Libya’s rival governments agreed “in principle” to hold future talks in Libya to end the crisis, moving the UN-sponsored negotiations away from Geneva. The Tripoli-based government, which had not taken part in the talks, said it would “end its suspension” of the negotiations.

“There was agreement on the principle of convening future dialogue sessions in Libya, provided that logistical and security conditions are available,” the UN Mission for Libya said in a statement after another round of talks in Geneva last week.

We hope such security conditions are available, but the current scenario is no cause for optimism.