LIBYA: Gunmen attack Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli

Record ID: 354029

  • Title: LIBYA: Gunmen attack Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli
  • Date: 2nd October 2013
  • Summary: LIBYA TRIPOLI, ( OCTOBER 02,2013) (REUTERS) SECURITY FORCES OUTSIDE RUSSIAN EMBASSY BUILDING IN TRIPOLI DAMAGED GUARD'S BOOTH VARIOUS OF SMASHED WINDOWS BURNED VEHICLE BELONGS TO THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SECURITY FORCE MEMBER, ADEL AL BADNONI, SAYING: "We arrived here when we got the information that gunmen in armed vehicles came here with fishing exp
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVACTL4TH4SRZN11GBGW843H02VH
  • Story Text: Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli came under fire on Wednesday (October 2) and a group of people tried to force their way into the compound, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
    Diplomatic sources in Libya said security guards fired shots to disperse a group of about 60 people that had approached the embassy. An attempt to enter the building was repelled and according to the Foreign Ministry no diplomats were wounded.
    Embassy staff had been taken to the airport as a precaution.

    "We arrived here when we got the information that gunmen in armed vehicles came here with fishing explosives or what known as hand grenades and Kalashnikovs, they opened fire on the embassy and the embassy's security fired back," said a Libyan security guard.
    The attack was symptomatic of volatility in Libya two years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Clan and tribal rivalries, as well as Islamist groups, have flourished in the absence of strong central government. Security services, themselves riven, have struggled to maintain order.
    There have been a number of attacks on Western diplomats by militant groups. Militants linked to al Qaeda affiliates attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012.
    However, one Libyan security source said the attack did not appear to be directly linked to any militant group. He said the crowd were angered by the killing, as they saw it, of a Libyan by a Russian woman.
    The embassy was empty at the time.
    The sources said Libyan authorities were searching for the gunmen.
    Western powers, using air power, led the military campaign that ultimately toppled Gaddafi. Russia, which had had close relations with Gaddafi, did not take part in the action and condemned what it called the West's abuse of a United Nations Security Council to intervene.
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