Libya arrests two over rocket attack on UN mission

Libyan security forces stand guard outside a police building in Tripoli. (AFP)
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  • In August, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said its Tripoli headquarters had come under rocket attack, without victims or damage

TRIPOLI: Libyan authorities have arrested two people suspected of carrying out an attempted rocket attack on the United Nations mission in Libya in August, the attorney general’s office said Friday.
The two suspects in the attack — which did not cause casualties or damage — were questioned by investigators and prosecutors in the capital Tripoli before being placed in pre-trial detention, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Their identities and motives were not disclosed, but the two were “confronted with incriminating evidence” by prosecutors, the statement added.
The prosecutor’s office did not provide further details.
In August, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said its Tripoli headquarters had come under rocket attack, without victims or damage.
Authorities said they had foiled “an attempted attack” with an anti-tank missile on the compound housing UNSMIL headquarters.
The incident came as UNSMIL chief Hanna Tetteh was briefing the Security Council in New York, the mission said.
The Tripoli-based government then condemned what it called a “failed attempt” and a “serious act aimed at undermining security and stability, and damaging Libya’s relations with the international community.”
The government also said it was committed to building “professional and unified security forces” and ending the proliferation of “illegal armed groups” in the country.
Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.
The north African country has remained divided since a NATO-backed revolt toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.