- AIR MALTA CANCELS BENGHAZI FLIGHT AS UK WARNS OF IMMINENT THREAT TO WESTERNERS
- 24.01.13
European and North American embassies today warned their nationals in Benghazi to leave the city immediately because of a “specific threat to Westerners”. The warning came days after the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had seen credible reports that Western interests in the region may be the target of a terrorist attack. The British Foreign Office declined to give any further details. However other security sources are saying there is firm evidence that an attack is imminent on a Libyan oilfield, in a repeat of the In Almenas assault in Algeria.
It is unclear how many Westerners are still located in the Benghazi area. There was a definite exodus after the murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and three colleagues on 11 September. A further set of departures came after the 12 January attack on a vehicle in which Italy’s consul in Benghazi was travelling. The Italian consulate in the city has since been closed, temporarily.
- Though embassies only started alerting their nationals today, the first corporate security warning of the expected attack was actually issued at 2000 hours yesterday (Wednesday). It was not immediately clear how easily Westerners were managing to leave Benghazi. There was, however, huge chaos at Tripoli airport. The 1300 hrs flight to Benghazi was overbooked. However, bumped passengers hoping to catch the next flight at 1500 hours, found that that had been cancelled.
As a result, Air Malta this afternoon cancelled its flight to the Libyan city of Benghazi. An airline spokesman said the airline would continue to keep the situation under review.
(Source: Times of Malta and Libya Herald)
