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.
