With new threats from Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri calling for attacks on US interests in Libya, the American embassy in Tripoli – located at the prestigious Corinthia Bab Africa hotel – is to remain “open for business”, the American diplomatic mission to Malta has confirmed.
Deputy chief of mission Jason Davis said the US embassy would continue to work with the Libyan government on countering any security threats, after Zawahiri announced a new Libyan arm of Al Qaeda and called for the overthrow of the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco over their support for Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The location of the US embassy at the Corinthia Bab Africa is of a temporary nature, the Corinthia Group’s company secretary Alfred Fabri told MaltaToday, and is shortly coming to an end.
Fabri would not discuss security matters at Corinthia’s interests in Libya after the threat from Al Qaeda.
The US diplomatic mission established itself over two floors of the Maltese-owned hotel, considered to be the best address in Tripoli.
But the hotel chain, which owns properties around Europe and Africa, had been “blacklisted” by the US State Department for almost a decade, following tough economic sanctions imposed on Libya in the wake of the tragic Pan-Am bombing over Lockerbie in December 1988. American citizens were repeatedly told to stay away from Corinthia hotels because of allegations of Libyan investment in the company.
The United States withdrew its last ambassador in 1972 and the embassy shut down after a mob set fire to the office in 1979.
Zawahiri also called for attacks on French and Spanish interests across North Africa, singling out the leaders Mohammed Ghaddafi, Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
Zawahiri said that a Libyan Islamist group had joined the network, the second in north Africa after Algeria’s Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.
“The esteemed leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group have announced their allegiance to the Al-Qaeda network,” he said.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt