Libya tightens security amid threats

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TRIPOLI, Libya, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The Libyan government said it needs to be prepared for any emergency as it works to tighten security along its borders.

Tripoli said it was tightening visa requirements for foreign visitors to ramp up border security and thwart illegal immigration, The Tripoli Post reports. Visas weren't required previously for some visitors from the region.

Libyan Col. Ahmed al-Kabasha, a commander from the Defense Ministry's special petroleum guard, said the country needs to be prepared "for any emergency," the Post adds.

The British Embassy in Tripoli said Monday it was aware of a "potential" threat there. The warning came days after the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had seen credible reports that Western interests in the region may be the target of a terrorist attack.

In September, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three members of his staff died in attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Italy's envoy was attacked on consulate grounds in Benghazi, but was uninjured, early this month.

Libya's internal security has come into question since the regime of Moammar Gadhafi was ousted as a result of civil war in 2011.

A terrorist attack on a natural gas installation in eastern Algeria was said to have involved Libyan militants.