Video: French embassy attack in Tripoli is 'a blow to Western hopes for Libya' France's embassy in Tripoli was hit by a suspected car bomb that injured two guards and destroyed the front of the building. It is the first such attack in the Libyan capital since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi last year. Residents living near the embassy compound, in the capital's Hay Andalus area, said they heard two blasts early in the morning around 7am local time. Mohammed Abdel Aziz, the Libyan foreign minsiter, called the attack a "terrorist act." The Telegraph's Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Damien McElroy, said that the attack would be a "blow to French prestige and Western hopes that Libya can emerge as a new democratic country." French officials have expressed concerns about the possibility of greater instability in Libya, where they believe at least some rebel fighters from Mali fled following France's military onslaught to dislodge al-Qaeda-linked militants. Last week, al-Qaeda's North Africa branch, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, threatened to seek revenge against all countries taking part in the French-led war in Mali, warning that no one who has participated will be safe.