Gunmen kill policeman guarding U.N. building in Libya's capital

On Friday gunmen shot from a passing car at policemen on duty outside the office of the U.N. development agency UNDP in Tripoli, a state news agency and the U.N. mission to Libya (UNSMIL) said.

One officer died of his wounds in hospital.

"U.N. staff were not involved in the incident," the U.N. said in a statement.

Tripoli is controlled by a faction called Libya Dawn, which has set up a rival government and forced the internationally recognised Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to the east.

The United Nations and most Western and Arab countries evacuated their diplomats in the summer during fighting between rival factions who are battling for control of the oil-producing state four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Bombs exploded in November near the Egyptian and United Arab Emirates embassies and last week outside Algeria's mission.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Stephen Powell)

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