Blast near Swedish consulate in Libya

A car bomb exploded in front of the Swedish consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday morning, causing damage to the building and nearby houses, a security source told Xinhua. The spokesperson Colonel Abdullah Al Zaidi said that the consulate building and vehicles in the area were "seriously damaged," adding that no one was inside the consulate at the time of explosion as Friday is the weekend in Libya. No casualties were reported. Zaidi said the explosion against the Swedish consulate "appears similar to the bombings of Court Building Branch and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" in Benghazi in the past two months. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident took place one day after Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was briefly "kidnapped" by armed men in the capital Tripoli, prompting speculations that it was a reaction to the U.S. raid to capture alleged al-Qaida suspect Abu Anas Al-Libi in Libya on Oct. 5. Libya is witnessing increasing violence over the past few months. Western missions in Benghazi are often targeted, especially after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in September 2012, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other American staffers. On Oct. 2, the Russian embassy in Tripoli was attacked by unknown militants, with embassy buildings being fired at and the Russian national flag torn off. Earlier this month, Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Abdelaziz pledged to take more measures and protect diplomatic missions in Libya. Source: XINHUA