US citizen killed in Libya hotel attack was contractor from security company Crucible

WASHINGTON (AFP) - United States security company Crucible confirmed that one of its employees, Mr David Berry, was the American killed on Tuesday in a militant attack on a luxury hotel in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Mr Cliff Taylor, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based firm, told AFP he could give no more details about the victim for security reasons, but added that all other Crucible employees were accounted for.

"Today our company was the victim of a terrorist attack," he said. "Our company mourns this extraordinary loss with his family and friends."

Crucible is a "security training and operations firm" providing experts to help protect US government agencies, multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations in difficult areas.

Earlier, US and Libyan officials had confirmed that one American was among nine people killed when gunmen wearing bomb belts detonated a car bomb and stormed the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli.

Four other foreigners - two Filipinos, a French citizen and a South Korean national - were also among those killed when gunmen stormed the luxury Corinthia Hotel in the Libyan capital.

In a unanimous statement, the 15-member United Nations Security Council "condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack" and offered condolences to the families of the victims of "this heinous act". The council also urged all politicians and factions in Libya to work with the United Nations to launch a political process "aimed at addressing the political and security challenges facing the country".

UN envoy Bernardino Leon is seeking to broker a deal on forming a unity government in Libya, which has been wracked by conflict since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Tripoli branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on Twitter, according to SITE, which monitors militant media.

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