Embassy Message

I get emails occassionally from the US Embassy over here. I'm signed up on their listserv to receive security updates. Most of them are general precautions about upcoming crowds or events that Americans should be careful around. There was a message a few weeks ago about an increase in purse snatching in the Gargaresh area. They are usually pretty mundane in nature. Overall Libya has been very safe for most of us ex-pats. I do know one guy over here who was stabbed with a pocket knife by some guys and robbed. He was fine and didn't even realize he had been stabbed until later. There's a lot more to that story, but suffice it to say, he wasn't targeted for being an American.

U.S. Embassy Warden Message
November 22, 2009
Violence Against British Citizens

This warden message advises U.S. citizens of a criminal attack in
Tripoli that may have been aimed at U.S. citizens.

On Saturday, November 21, 2009, two British citizens were attacked by an unknown assailant armed with a screwdriver while walking along Omar al-Mukhtar Street in downtown Tripoli. The assailant attacked the two even though they answered negatively to his query as to whether they were Americans. The British suffered minor injuries and the perpetrator escaped. Preliminary reports indicate that the incident appears to be anti-American in nature. Therefore, the Embassy continues to remind all American citizens to exercise caution in public areas. While this is the first specifically anti-Western crime in Tripoli to come to the Embassy’s attention in the last year, Libya continues to experience an overall increase in general crime, including violent crime. Both the British and U.S. embassies are in contact with the Libyan government regarding appropriate follow-up to Saturday’s attack.

The Hotel Two Bucks where I lived my first few months here is on Omar al-Muktar Street where this happened. When strange people ask me where I'm from and what I do, I'm Andy a Russian petroleum engineer.