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By Hadi Fornaji and Maha Ellawati.
Tripoli/Benghazi, 11 October 2013:
The honorary joint Swedish and Finish consulate in Benghazi’s Fuwaihat district was bombed . . .[restrict]this morning. No one was injured, despite earlier reports that a Swede and a Libyan were injured in the blast. “We are fine the building is not fine”, an official at the honorary consulate told the Libya Herald.
The blast, caused by a car bomb, occurred at 11.30am. “The car was driven up and the driver ran away,” the official said. “The building is not devastated. It can be used, but there is a lot of work necessary.”
“There were only pieces of the car left,” one local resident said. “It must have been a massive bomb. But other nearby buildings were not damaged.”
The development is seen as particularly ominious. Following the kidnapping by the Americans of Nazih Al-Ruqaii (aka Abu Anas Al-Libi) last Saturday, Ansar Al-Sharia and militants in Benghazi, Derna and Beida claiming to represent the revolutionaries there said they would attack US, British and French interests or anyone working for them. The Swedes and Finns do not obviously fall into the latter category. Today’s attack indicates that they are going for any western target.
The attack is also rebuff to the President of Congress, Nuri Abu Sahmain. Yesterday, speaking about law and order in Libya following the kidnapping of the Prime Minister, he said that Libya would protect diplomatic premises. [/restrict]
