AFP PHOTO / Mohammed Abed
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign affairs has confirmed a diplomat’s car was bombed in Benghazi, Libya. The attack occurred on Monday outside the home of the diplomat, who works with Egypt’s mission to Libya, however no one was in the car or injured.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr is in discussions with Libyan officials. A ministry spokesman said the meetings aim to discover the identity of the attacker and to review the security situation for Egyptian staff and facilities operating in Libya.
The bombing comes four days after a group of Libyan nationals, frustrated with the Egyptian visa process, attacked the interior of the Egyptian consulate in Tripoli on Thursday. At the time, the Egyptian consulate reiterated an earlier call for security at its Tripoli location.
An AFP report conjectures the attack could be in retaliation to recent television deals between Egypt’s Nilesat and Gaddafi-era officials that have angered some Libyans.
Regardless of the motive for Monday’s attack, it is one more incident in a security situation that has reached crisis point in Libya. August alone has seen attacks on a variety of targets, from international organisations, to Libyan state security institutions, to an army general who defected during the revolution.
The ministry also announced that Ambassador Ashraf Shiha had been at home in Egypt on vacation, but rushed back to Benghazi following Monday’s bombing.
Spokesman Amr Roshdy said on Monday that the Benghazi bombing “illustrates the enormity of the security risks faced by the members of the Foreign Ministry in many countries of the world, this thing did not weaken the willpower or lessen their determination to continue being in their positions and performing their duties.”
