Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — NATO states are urging their nationals to leave
Libya immediately.

Western diplomatic sources said Britain, France and the United States
were warning their contractors of an imminent Al Qaida-aligned attack in
Libya.

The sources said Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb was believed preparing to attack an energy facility that contained a significant Western presence.

“Al Qaida wants a follow-up to its attack on Algeria,” a diplomat said. “This is almost certain.”

On Jan. 18, AQIM stormed the leading natural gas facility in Algeria.
After a four-day standoff, 38 hostages were found dead, all but one from Western countries.

The sources said both Algeria and the United States have determined that many of the attackers of the Ein Amenas liquefied natural gas facility were Libyans. They said AQIM was using Libya as a launching pad for attacks in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

“We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in
Benghazi, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice
to leave immediately,” the British Foreign Office said on Jan. 24.

The U.S. consultant Gray Solutions said the most likely target of AQIM would be the crude oil fields located in eastern Libya. Gray said it was
urging all Westerners to leave Libya immediately.

“There is concrete intelligence from credible sources that terrorist
organizations are intending to attack oil fields in the country in an
Algerian-style attack,” Gray said. “Western personnel in Benghazi
specifically, and Libya in general, are encouraged to evacuate immediately.”

  Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Benghazi, Ein Amenas, Gray Solutions, NATO, Western contractors warned Libyan oil facilities are next Al Qaida target