Russia and Libya

 Russian Embassy, Libya

I always read a number of Russian News services.

I mean, you have to.

I was surprised to read that Russia's embassy in Libya was attacked October 2. Libya apologized, and the UN sent its regards.

It is revenge for Moscow’s support of Bashar al-Assad that was the reason of the attack, expert of the Center for Arab Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies Boris Dolgov believes.

"If we are to speak about those, who stand behind the attack on the Russian Embassy, and about their motives, there are no exact data here yet. But it is easy to assume that it is revenge of radical Islamists for Russia's strict position on the Syrian crisis. It is known that many militants from Libya were sent and are sent to Syria to fight against the Assad regime and the government troops in Syria. In addition, there are camps in Libya, where militants are being trained for anti-Assad groupings."

And this strikes me as a reasonable explanation of events.

However, local Libyan media has a different slant.

...According to the local media, the reason for the attack was revenge for a crime committed by a Russian woman. She is accused of murdering an officer of the Libyan Air Force Muhammad al-Souci. The motives of the killer are still unknown.

According to one version, al- Souci paid with his life for blackmailing the Russian’s husband. Another version says that the killer was a supporter of Muammar Gaddafi, and she killed the officer because of his involvement in the overthrow of the leader of the Jamahiriya. According to the third version, al-Souci was the husband of the Russian and died as a result of a family quarrel. The situation is commented by expert of the Institute of the Middle East Sergei Seregichev.

"Most likely, it is close to the truth. Indeed, a household quarrel could be the reason, but in conditions of complete chaos in the country countrymen of the deceased decided to take revenge by capturing the Russian citizen in order to execute her. This looks like the truth most of all, and not the “al Qaeda” schemes or something like that."

I do not know what to think about embassy attacks being caused by domestic quarrels. Every country best check their security and their nationals.
I wonder if Senator John McCain has taken such explanations into account about our own embassy attack in Benghazi?

(Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_10_04/Libya-apologizes-to-Russia-for-Tripoli-embassy-attack-2164/)

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