A bomb was thrown at a convoy carrying the head of the UN mission to Libya yesterday, a UN spokeswoman said, but no one was hurt in the explosion.
The attack in the eastern city of Benghazi is the first of its kind targeting a foreign mission since last year’s revolt overthrew Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is likely to raise concerns about instability in the country.
“While on a visit to Benghazi the head of the UN support mission in Libya had what appeared to be an explosive device thrown at his convoy. No one has been hurt and the authorities are investigating,” said the UN’s Hua Jiang.
A security official who was travelling with the convoy, but declined to give his name, said the home-made device was thrown while the convoy’s five armoured vehicles were pulling into the parking area of the Supreme Security Committee’s building, where they had a meeting scheduled.
The attacker missed the convoy and the device exploded about four metres away from the convoy, a Libyan intelligence source told Reuters, leaving a small hole in the road.
It was unclear who had thrown the bomb but security analysts have warned that in the security vacuum left by Muammar Gaddafi’s fall, there is a risk that loyalists of the former leadership or Islamist militants could mount an insurgency along the lines of the one in Iraq after the US invaded and toppled Saddam Hussein.
The attack on the UN head of mission could also have an impact on plans by international oil companies to restart their operations in Libya, home to Africa’s biggest proven reserves of crude.
The companies have been sending out teams to inspect the oil fields they abandoned during the revolt last year, and are preparing to send expatriate staff back in.
If there is a heightened risk of attacks on Western targets, they might have to reconsider those plans.
The head of the UN mission, Ian Martin, is a British citizen who was appointed to the post in September last year by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He has also worked as a UN envoy in conflict zones including Gaza, East Timor, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. He was previously Secretary General of human rights organisation Amnesty International.