US Government issues new warning against travel to Libya

Tripoli, 28 August:

Just days after reopening visa services in Libya, the US State Department has issued new travel advice for American . . .[restrict]citizens that still warns against “all but essential travel to Libya.”

There have been few reports of attacks on American citizens in Libya recently, although a US embassy vehicle was the target of a failed car-jacking event earlier this month. However, events such as the recent car bombings in Tripoli, attacks on Sufi shrines and the assassinations of various Qaddafi-era army officers will doubtless cause concerns as to the country’s stability.

The statement says that “violent crime continues to be a problem in Tripoli, Benghazi and other parts of the country”, but the primary concern seems to be “reports of militias briefly apprehending and detaining foreigners due to perceived or actual violations of Libyan law” because the US Embassy is limited in its ability to intervene as such groups are “neither sanctioned no controlled by the Libyan government.” [/restrict]