InterContinental Hotels group is set to open its first property in Libya in 2009.

The company has signed an agreement with Magna Holdings to develop a hotel offering 300 rooms and 26 serviced apartments in the capital, Tripoli.

The agreement will also see IHG take on the operation of the 1930s Al Waddan hotel on an adjacent site to the InterContinental Tripoli. The hotel, which is currently undergoing a renovation and will reopen early next year, will remain unbranded.

Chris Moloney, chief operating officer for InterContinental Hotels Group, MEA, said: "We are pleased to announce our plans to expand into Libya for the first time.

“We look forward to bringing our InterContinental brand and global hotel management experience to this burgeoning business and leisure destination. It is another step towards achieving IHG's goal of adding 50,000 to 60,000 rooms on a net and organic basis globally across all our brands by the end of 2008."