French foreign ministry on Friday called on its citizens to avoid traveling to the east Libyan region of Cyrenaica on terrorism threat against Westerners. Due to the persistent tensions related to security situation in the region and rumors of threat against citizens of Western countries, it's advisable not to go to the Cyrenaica temporarily, the ministry said in a statement.
On Jan. 16, an al-Qaeda-linked group, headed by an Afghan-trained fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claimed responsibility for kidnapping of 41 foreign workers at a gas plant in Algeria, in a revenge to French operation in Mali. In a recent report, Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said "all the facts show that the assaulters came from the Libyan territories."
According to Algerian officials, a total of 37 hostages, including a French citizen, were killed during an Algerian military rescue operation and seven others reported missing.
On Thursday, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands urged their citizens to leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi immediately in response to a so-called imminent threat against Westerners.