Benghazi, 20 August:
A small bomb hit the vehicle of an Egyptian diplomat in Benghazi today, Monday, in the latest sign of . . .[restrict]unrest in the eastern city.
The diplomat, First Secretary Abdelhamid Rifai, was reported to have been at home at the time.
Nobody was hurt in the blast.
Maged Al-Urfi, a Benghazi internal security spokesman, said the device contained only a small quantity of explosives, not enough to injure passangers.
“This is meant to send a message, not hurt”, he said, refusing to give further details.
The vehicle was parked outside of the Egyptian consulate in Fwyhat, one of Benghazi’s wealthier districts, home to a number of foreign diplomats.
In recent months Benghazi has been hit by a number of attacks on foreign diplomats, including attacks on the Tunisian consulate, the American consulate and a vehicle carrying the British Ambassador.
The city has also been plagued by a spate of assassinations directed at high-profile former Qaddafi officers, with 14 having been killed so far this year.
It is not known who is behind the latest incident or what their motivations were. [/restrict]
