The Prime Minister of Libya’s self-declared government Omar Al-Hassi was not at the Corinthia Hotel at the time of Tuesday’s terrorist attack, sources in Tripoli told The Malta Independent.
The government’s representative in Malta Hussain Musrati yesterday claimed that Al-Hassi was the target of the attack, but this claim appears to be part of a propaganda war to portray rival groups and the internationally recognised Tobruk-based government in a bad light.
Libya’s self-declared government Omar Al-Hassi
The attack on the Corinthia hotel on Tuesday, in which gunmen burst into the lobby and set off a car bomb in the car park, left 10 people dead. An affiliate of the Islamic State took credit for the attack and released photos of two suicide bombers it said took part in the assault.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that an attack on Al-Hassi is one of three possible reasons behind the terrorist act, the other two being an attempt by the Islamic State to disrupt peace talks or an attack by Al-Qaeda against a security group based at the hotel.
The Tripoli government is fast losing credibility in Libya as the stability brought to the capital last year when it took over is fast descending into chaos.
Fighting also rages between government forces and Islamic militias in the second largest city of Benghazi. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, embassies have been closed and diplomats have fled the country along with hundreds of thousands of foreign labourers.
The chaos following the overthrow of long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in a 2011 uprising has proven fertile ground for the rise of Islamic extremist groups, including a number that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which controls a third of both Iraq and Syria and has encouraged attacks worldwide.
According to postings on jihadi web forums, groups claiming allegiance to the Islamic State are present in at least five Libyan cities, including the two biggest -- Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising.
Islamic State supporters divide the vast, oil-rich country of six million people into three regions, or "wilayat": Tripoli, Barqa or Cyrenaica in the east, and Fazzan in the south.
The east is already home to Ansar al-Shariah, an al-Qaida-inspired group suspected of involvement in the deadly assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in 2012 that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
But in the eastern city of Darna an Islamic State affiliate has held public events and claimed control of the city. And other militants claiming allegiance to the group have battled Libyan troops in Benghazi, often using suicide bombers.
The Tripoli attack is the largest operation in the country to be claimed in the name of the Islamic State group, but it is unclear whether the attack was planned or directed by the central leadership in Iraq and Syria.
The growing power of Isis is raising fears in the west that Libya’s proximity to Europe makes the continent a tempting target for militant fighters based in the North African country.
In Geneva, UN special envoy Bernardino Leon is warning that the window to agree a peace deal is closing.
UN special envoy Bernardino Leon
“Libya’s running out of time,” Leon said at the opening of the Geneva talks. “How much time will Libya have, it’s difficult to say but the general impression is that the country is very close to total chaos.”
In its claim of responsibility, which first appeared on jihadi forums Wednesday, the group identified the attackers as Abu Ibrahim al-Tunsi and Abu Suleiman al-Sudani, noms de guerre suggesting the former is Tunisian and the latter Sudanese.
"The operation is not the last one on the lands of Tripoli... Let the enemies of God, the crusaders and their allies await what will harm them," the message read.
The group previously claimed responsibility for an attack on the Algerian Embassy in Tripoli that wounded three guards. It has in the past posted photos of fighters touring markets and distributing pamphlets.
Western nations have few options in combating such groups. Tripoli itself is controlled by Islamist-allied militias from the western city of Misrata, while the internationally-recognized government is confined to the Far East. Neither exercises much power over vast swaths of the country, which has been awash in heavy weapons since the uprising emptied Gadhafi's arsenals.
"Tripoli is of strategic importance to the Islamic State and this attack takes the country to a new level, alongside other nations in the war against terrorism," said Mahmoud Shamma, editor of Libya's widely circulated al-Wasat daily.
"So far we hear strong condemnations but there is a long distance between this and action."