Owners of the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli say they are monitoring the escalating violence in Libya, in case they need to take precautionary measures. 

The five-star luxury hotel was the victim of a terrorist siege in 2015, which left nine people dead.

“Obviously we are keeping an eye on the situation,” a spokesperson from the Corinthia Group said. “We are continuing to operate on a reduced basis, but we have national and international people staying with us all the time and we are continuing to rent out our offices to those wishing to do business.”

The concern comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss several topics including Libya. On Tuesday the EU rejected Turkish plans to send troops to the North African country. At the same meeting of foreign ministers from France, Germany, Italy and the UK, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged for calm in Libya. 

The violence escalated in December after warplanes bombed targets in Tripoli and two other cities shortly after the UN-backed government in the capital announced it was deepening military co-operation with Turkey.

But so far, the Corinthia Hotel remains unharmed. 

“We have always made security a priority for our 120 staff as well as guests,” added the spokesman. “We are already used to operating in dangerous areas and last year had a similar situation in Sudan when the situation got tense there. But we are able to adapt and will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis.” 

The hotel, which was opened in 2003 by Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, has 300 rooms and employs Libyans and Maltese as well as several other nationalities.