TRIPOLI/ROME (Reuters) - An Italian consul came under fire in his car in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday but was unhurt, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

"He is completely unharmed," said the spokesman.

A security source in Libya who declined to be named told Reuters: "They shot at his car, but the car was armored. He is fine, there are no injuries."

The consul, Guido de Sanctis, is based in Benghazi.

Security for Westerners in Libya's second city has been an acute concern since the U.S. ambassador was killed along with three other U.S. embassy staff in an assault on the U.S. consulate in the city on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Tripoli and Catherine Hornby in Rome; Editing by Kevin Liffey)