Friday, May 23, 2014

As Washington Focuses on Another Benghazi Probe, Could a Civil War Be Brewing in Libya?

Democracy Now!

"While Congress is beginning its ninth investigation into the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya may be confronting its worst crisis since the NATO intervention that ousted Col. Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Fear is growing of an all out war between militias aligned with the Islamist-dominated parliament and forces led by a former general named Khalifa Haftar who was reportedly once trained by the CIA. Haftar has accused the government of fostering terrorism and is calling for an emergency administration to oversee elections next month. Haftar, a former general under Gaddafi, says he wants to rid Libya of Islamists, and led an assault against militant groups in Benghazi last Friday. On Sunday forces allied to him took control of Libya’s parliament building in the capital, Tripoli. At least 100 people have died since the fighting broke out last week. We speak to Mary Fitzgerald, a journalist based in Libya, and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, independent journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent reporting from Tripoli...."

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