Thread: Official: 4 U.S. military personnel detained by Libya

Four U.S. military personnel are being held by the Libyan government, a senior U.S. Defense Department official tells CNN.

Official: 4 U.S. military personnel detained by Libya

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
updated 9:32 PM EST, Fri December 27, 2013

(CNN) -- Four U.S. military personnel are being held by the Libyan government, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told CNN on Friday.

The four are believed to have been detained by the ministry of the interior, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately known why the American personnel were being held. "We are seeking to further ascertain the facts and ensure their release," said the official.

The four were in Libya "augmenting security at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli," the official said.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/27/world/africa/libya-americans-detained/

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Official: 4 U.S. military personnel detained by Libya


By Barbara Starr and Chelsea J. Carter, CNN
updated 10:07 PM EST, Fri December 27, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Four U.S. military personnel are believed detained by the interior ministry, an official said
• The four were augmenting security at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, the official said
• A senior U.S. official also told CNN the four had been detained

Washington (CNN) -- Four U.S. military personnel are being held by the Libyan government, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told CNN on Friday.

The four are believed to be held by the ministry of the interior, the official, with knowledge of the situation, said on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately known why the American personnel were in Libyan custody. "We are seeking to further ascertain the facts and ensure their release," the official said.

The four were in Libya "augmenting security at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli," the official said.

A second person -- a senior U.S. official -- also told CNN that the four military personnel had been detained. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The news of the detentions follows an announcement by the United States last month that it was stepping up military support for Libya's fledgling security forces, who have been overwhelmed by militia violence and unrest since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Popular sentiment against the various militias has been mounting for months in Tripoli and other parts of the country, including the eastern city of Benghazi, which has been gripped by increasing violence, including political assassinations.

The chaos in Libya hit home for Americans after U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed on September 11, 2012, in an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

The United States has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in that attack. While U.S. authorities have filed charges in the case, no one has been arrested.

A NATO air campaign helped overthrow Gadhafi two years ago, but ever since there has been widespread unrest and poor security.

The detention of the four personnel also follows reports of a U.S. military operation in October that saw members of the elite Army Delta Force launch a raid in Tripoli to capture Abu Anas al Libi, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

Libya's interim government called the capture a kidnapping and demanded an explanation from Washington about the raid.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/27/world/...cans-detained/

4 U.S. military personnel taken into custody by Libyan government

By Ernesto Londoño, Friday, December 27, 8:02 PM
E-mail the writer

Four U.S. military personnel were taken into custody in Libya on Friday while they were examining potential evacuation routes for diplomats, in an incident that underscored the danger that American officials continue to face in the North African country.

The State Department said late Friday that it was seeking their release from Libyan government custody. “We are seeking to further ascertain the facts and ensure their release,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “We are in touch with Libyan officials on this issue.”

The detention came to light after photos of the biographical page of two American men described as Libyan government detainees were posted on social media. Another photo, of blue U.S. Embassy badges with matching names, was also circulated on Twitter. A third photo posted on social media showed the men sitting on a torn-up black sofa, looking dour.

As of Friday night, Libyan government officials did not appear to have provided an explanation of why the men were taken into custody.
A U.S. defense official said the men were posted at the embassy in Tripoli to augment its security force. “We think they were reviewing possible evacuation routes for embassy personnel when apprehended,” said the defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation. “There’s a lot we still don’t know at this point.”

Social media users who circulated the photos said the men were detained in Ajaylat, a small city in northwestern Libya near the Tunisian border.

Libya’s nascent government has struggled to consolidate authority in the wake of the 2011 ouster of dictator Moammar Gaddafi. Militias that emerged during the country’s civil war remain dominant in many parts of the country, acting as a de facto government authority in several regions. Arbitrary detentions in the country have become so commonplace that even the country’s prime minister was briefly taken hostage this year.

The tenuous security situation in postwar Libya became painfully clear to the United States the year after Gaddafi’s ouster, when a sophisticated attack on U.S. government compounds in the eastern city of Benghazi resulted in the death of four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

The Sept. 11, 2012, attack became a major political controversy for the Obama administration as Republicans on Capitol Hill questioned why the State Department hadn’t heeded calls for more security for diplomats in Benghazi and implied the White House had orchestrated a coverup.

In the wake of the attack, the U.S. military has repositioned troops in southern Europe and drawn up plans to respond more quickly and assertively to attacks on U.S. diplomats and personnel in North Africa.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...fd2_story.html

Libya Holds Four American Military Personnel for Hours

New York Times

- ‎3 minutes ago‎

WASHINGTON — Four American military personnel assigned to the United States Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, were detained Friday and released hours later after being held by the country's Interior Ministry, American officials said...