Sunday, July 27, 2014

US evacuates Libya embassy after 'free-wheeling militia violence'

A fitting tribute to one of the many disasters comprising what is knows as the Obama foreign policy.
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The United States evacuated its embassy in Libya on Saturday, driving diplomats across the border into Tunisia under heavy military escort after escalating clashes broke out between rival militias in Tripoli.

Security in the Libyan capital has deteriorated following two weeks of clashes between brigades of former rebel fighters who have pounded each other with rockets and artillery fire in southern Tripoli near the embassy compound. [...]

Speaking to reporters in Paris before holding talks on the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described Libya's situation of "free-wheeling militia violence" as a real risk to U.S. staff with clashes around the embassy.

Britain's foreign office on Saturday also urged British nationals to leave by commercial means, due to "ongoing and greater intensity fighting in Tripoli and wider instability throughout Libya."

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