By Libya Herald reporter.
Malta, 25 January 2015:
The Dat Al-Imad office complex in central Tripoli received a ‘‘serious threat’’ to ‘‘destroy’’ it, . . .[restrict]the pro-Thinni government Beida-based office of the news agency LANA, reported Saturday.
The complex houses some of the leading Libyan and international companies working in Libya such as Eni, OMV, Total and Repsol.
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’’.
Last Tuesday, the Suq Al-Thalat, Tripoli’s largest supermarket, was destroyed in a massive fire..
Sources from the management of Dat Al-Imad told LANA that a number of messages were found in the corridors signed by Daesh/IS ordering the separation of males and females 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 refraining from turning up to work. It also repeated the assertion that IS had claimed responsibility for the fire that had destroyed the Suq Al-Thalat shopping centre. LANA also claimed there were strong indications that the shopping centre had been set on fire deliberately.
It further reported that the former Director of Tripoli Security Directorate Colonel Mohamed Swesi, who was assassinated by militias, had flagged the centre as a potential target and had requested it receive round-the-clock security.
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. [/restrict]
