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US Embassy residential complex being "safeguarded" by Libya Dawn militia members
[Libya Herald] Reports circulating on social media today claimed that the United States Embassy in Libya had been stormed, but it is actually the embassy's residential complex, located about a kilometre away, that has been taken over by Libya Dawn...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to bdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... forces. A video surfaced on YouTube showing a crowd of Libyan men around a swimming pool in the compound. Several of them took turns diving from a second -storey balcony into the pool. According to Libya Dawn forces, they have "secured" the compound and are safeguarding it from looting. Though no official statement has been released by the US State Department, US Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones tweeted in response to inquiries on Twitter, "The YouTube appears to be a residential annex of the US mission but cannot say definitively since not there." "To my knowledge & per recent photos the US Embassy Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... chancery & compound is now being safeguarded and has not been ransacked," the ambassador also tweeted. The US State Department pulled its staff from Tripoli on 26 July as festivities in the city grew more intense. The embassy is located near Airport Road, which witnessed the heaviest on-going fighting in July. Posted by: Fred 2014-09-01 |
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