At least eight people, including five foreigners, were killed when gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Tuesday.  It follows a car bomb at a vehicle stand outside the Corinthia Hotel which caused only minor injuries to some hotel staff, Tripoli security committee chief Essam al-Na’as said in comments reported by state news agency Lana. No further information on the attack is yet available.

The Corinthia previously hosted diplomatic delegations, but the government in Tripoli, installed by militias from the powerful city of Misrata and their allies, is not widely recognized.

Libya’s internationally recognized government, installed by a parliament elected last year, is based in the far eastern cities of Tobruk and al-Beida.
Forces linked to the rival administrations have clashed repeatedly in recent months.

The United Nations is currently hosting talks in Geneva aimed at resolving the conflict. The Tripoli-based parliament, the General National Congress, has so far stayed away, but other representatives from the Islamist-Misrata alliance have attended the talks. SAPA