US judge tosses out lawsuits against Libyan commander accused of war crimes

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A U.S. judge has tossed out a series of civil lawsuits against a Libyan military commander who used to live in Virginia and was accused of killing innocent civilians in that country’s civil war. A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, ruled Friday that he had no jurisdiction to preside over a case alleging war crimes against the defendant, Khalifa Hifter. Plaintiffs had argued that Hifter, who has U.S. citizenship and lived for more than 20 years in northern Virginia, should be held accountable in the U.S. Hifter continues to hold sway in the eastern half of Libya and has denied targeting civilians.