France on Friday became the latest country to warn its nationals against travelling to the Libyan city of Benghazi, citing rumours of threats against Westerners against the backdrop of the French intervention in nearby Mali.
The Foreign Ministry travel warning cited the "persistent security tensions linked to the regional situation," as well as "rumours of threats against Western nationals," in advising against travel to the Benghazi area.
Britain, Germany the Netherlands and Australia have taken a stronger stance, saying their nationals should leave Benghazi immediately over what the British Foreign Office described Thursday as a "specific and imminent threat."
Western countries have been closely monitoring developments in Benghazi since an attack last September on the local US consulate that killed US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three embassy staff.
They are being extra vigilant since an attack last week by Islamist militants on a gas complex in neighbouring Algeria, in which 37 expatriate workers and an Algerian security guard were killed.
The group behind that attack said it acted to avenge France's intervention in Mali.