Terrorist threat could have been made known a day earlier

Emad Towers, a five-tower complex in the El Saddi district of Tripoli.

Libyan state news agency Lana said that the El Emad towers received a “serious threat” to destroy it.

Lana serves the Al Thinni government from its offices in Beida.

The El Emad Towers house some of the leading Libyan and international companies working in Libya such as Eni, OMV, Total and Repsol. The building began construction in early 1984 and opened in 1990.

The report said that the complex had “received over the past couple of days new threats that the residents of Tripoli should expect the destruction of the complex just like the Suq Al-Thalat shopping centre.”

The previous week, the Suq Al-Thalat, Tripoli’s largest supermarket, was destroyed in a massive fire.

Sources from the management of El Emad told Lana that a number of messages were found in the corridors signed by Daesh/Islamic State ordering the separation of men and women at work in all the companies and commercial premises in the office complex.

Lana reported that the threats resulted in many employees at the complex absenting themselves from work.

Another report claims that one of the banks in the complex received a threatening letter on Thursday and the complex was evacuated at around 2pm.

However, it seems that the order to evacuate was not fully implemented and that some companies and offices either chose to continue working until the end of the day’s work at 4pm, or they did not receive the evacuation order.

Lana added that the former Director of Tripoli’s Security Directorate, Colonel Mohamed Swesi, assassinated by militias, had flagged the centre as a potential target and requested it receive round-the-clock security.