Libyan militia occupies US embassy in Tripoli to 'secure' it

Screenshot from YouTube user Ella oursa

The Dawn of Libya, an Islamist militia group, has said that it has secured the US embassy compound in the Libyan capital Tripoli, more than a month after US staff evacuated the building.

Although windows at the compound have been smashed, most of the equipment that had been left by the Americans remained untouched, according to an AP journalist who was invited by the militants to have a look around.

Islamists in the US embassy in #Tripoli #Libya pic.twitter.com/5sKDTaJZuI

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) August 31, 2014

A commander of the militia group said that his forces have been in control of the former embassy since last week.

A poorly-filmed video has appeared on YouTube showing men, who may or may not be the Islamic militants, fooling around by the swimming pool, while some of them perform reckless dives from an upper balcony into the shallow pool.

Safira Deborah, the US Ambassador to Libya, said the video appeared to have been filmed in the residential annex of the embassy.

A commander of the Dawn of Libya told AP that his forces had seized control of Tripoli, the Libyan capital, and its strategic airport after weeks of fighting with a rival militia, which he said his forces took over the embassy compound from.

The Dawn of Libya is deployed around Tripoli and has asked foreign diplomats to return now the fighting has largely stopped.

The US embassy was evacuated in July, as a last-minute ceasefire between warring militias collapsed and the capital fell into complete chaos.

The US embassy is located near the airport, which marked the frontline between two rebel groups. For weeks the staff sheltered in concrete bunkers while 90 heavily armed US Marines fended off any would-be attackers. However, the embassy did not take any direct hits.

The evacuation of the embassy in Tripoli was soon followed by EU embassies and brought back memories of the death of Chris Stevens, the last US ambassador to Libya who died along with three of his staff when the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi was overrun by militia two years ago.

Libya has descended deep into chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. A student who joined the uprising against Gaddafi in 2011 told The Guardian: “This is not what I fought the revolution for. We fought for peace and instead we get this.”

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog