LONDON — LONDON - Britain, Germany and the Netherlands urged their citizens Thursday to immediately leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi in response to what they called an imminent threat against Westerners.
European officials said schools were among the potential targets.
The warnings came a day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testified to Congress about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. The warnings also came as French troops battled al-Qaida-linked militants in the West African nation of Mali, and followed the deaths of dozens of foreigners taken hostage by Islamist extremists in Algeria.
The foreign ministries of the three European countries issued statements describing the threat as specific and imminent but none would elaborate.
The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya’s capital far to the west of Benghazi, noted the Europeans’ warnings but said there was “no specific information pointing to specific, imminent threats against U.S. citizens.”
Benghazi, with a population of 1 million, is Libya’s second-largest city and where the Libyan uprising against dictator Moammar Gadhafi began in February 2011. Gadhafi was eventually toppled and killed after NATO backed the rebel movement, and the Arab country has since struggled with increasing insecurity.
Al-Qaida-linked militants operate in Libya alongside other Islamist groups, and the country is awash in weapons looted from Gadhafi’s many military depots. Schools, businesses and offices of nongovernmental organizations were among the possible targets, according to two European officials familiar with the threats and who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by name in the media. They refused to give any other details.
Violence in Benghazi has targeted foreigners as well as Libyan officials in recent months, with assassinations, bombings and other attacks.
It was not immediately clear how many people could be affected by the European warnings; Britain’s Foreign Office said likely “dozens” of its citizens were in the city, while Dutch spokesman Thijs van Son said four Dutch citizens were registered there, and possibly two more were in the city.A German Foreign Ministry official, who requested anonymity because government policy did not allow him to be quoted by name, said “very few” Germans were in Benghazi.
Several countries have for months advised against all travel to the city, especially after the U.S. mission was attacked. Residents say many foreigners had already left in recent weeks.
Air Malta canceled Thursday’s flights between the Mediterranean island and Benghazi after the British advice but said flights to Tripoli were not affected. The airline said its next flight to Benghazi was scheduled for Tuesday, adding that it will keep reviewing the situation. Adel Mansouri, principal of the International School of Benghazi, said U.K. and foreign citizens were warned in the past few days about a possible threat to Westerners. He said the school’s teachers were given the option of leaving butdecided to stay.
The school has some 540 students. Most are Libyan, with some 40 percent holding dual nationality. Less than 5 percent are British while 10 to 15 students have U.S.-Libyan nationality, he said. Classes were not due to resume until Sunday because of a holiday Thursday.
“We told the British ambassador we are staying, and we’ll be in touch,” said Mansouri, who has both Libyan and British citizenship. “We don’t see a threat on the ground.”
Saleh Gawdat, a Benghazi lawmaker, said French doctors who were working in the city’s hospitals have left Benghazi and that the French cultural center closed out of concerns about potential retaliation over the French-led military intervention in Mali, which began two weeks ago.
In addition to the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission, an Italian diplomat’s car was fired on by militants in Benghazi earlier this month. The consul, Guido De Sanctis, wasn’t injured, but the attack prompted Italy to suspend its consular activities in the city and send its foreign staff home.
Islamist extremists in the area often are blamed for targeting security officials who once worked under Gadhafi, taking revenge on those who tortured or imprisoned them in the past. Many residents also blame Gadhafi loyalists who they say are trying to undermine Libya’s new leaders by sowing violence.
Information for this article was contributed by Mike Corder, Juergen Baetz, Maggie Michael, Paisley Dodds, Gregory Katz, Nicole Winfield and Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 01/25/2013