State Dept: US Not Supporting General’s Libya Takeover

Officials Could Decide to Evacuate Embassy at Any Minute

Given Libyan General Khalifa Hifter’s decades of US (and CIA in particular) ties, the State Department has apparently decided it can’t stay completely mum on his military takeover of parliament.

State Dept. spokeswoman Jen Psaki says that “we do not condone or support”  anything Gen. Hifter is doing, including his attack on Libya’s parliament, nor did they play any role in “assisting” the operation. She punctuated that point by insisting “we have not had contact with him recently.”

Psaki went on to say that the State Department supports a resolution through “peaceful means” of the ongoing disputes in Libya, and called on “all parties” to refrain from violence.

US Marines were deployed to Sicily days before Hifter’s actions, anticipating having to evacuate the embassy. On that front, officials say the decision could change “minute by minute,” as casualties in the Tripoli fighting build.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.