By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Libyan military commander who once lived in Virginia sat for a deposition Sunday in a U.S. lawsuit during which he’s accused of orchestrating indiscriminate attacks on civilians and torturing and killing political opponents, based on an advocacy group that supports the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs who sued Khalifa Hifter had been waiting for years to query him directly about his role in fighting that has plagued the country during the last decade.
Hifter, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army, is a defendant in three separate federal lawsuits in Virginia accusing him of killings and torture in that country’s civil war.
Once a lieutenant to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Hifter defected to the U.S. throughout the Eighties and spent a few years living in northern Virginia. He’s widely believed to have worked with the CIA during his time in exile.
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Plaintiffs imagine that he and his circle of relatives own significant property in Virginia, which could possibly be used to gather any judgments entered against him within the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema had entered a default judgment against Hifter in July after he failed to indicate up for earlier depositions. Last month, though, Brinkema agreed to put aside that ruling if Hifter sat for a deposition by Nov. 6.
Hifter’s U.S. lawyer had asked the judge to reconsider the default judgment, saying Hifter’s duties as a military commander made it difficult for him to schedule a deposition. Additionally they expressed concern that Hifter’s political opponents would use the deposition against him or that the questions would touch on sensitive political or military issues.
In an affidavit Hifter submitted in September, he said the Libyan authorities to whom he answers as commander of the Libyan National Army didn’t want him to take part in a deposition “because it might be utilized by plaintiffs and political opponents within the media.”
He also said he’s a still a candidate for the Libyan presidency if and when those elections might be held.
“The false charges on this lawsuit have been utilized by my political opponents to undermine my candidacy and disrupt the peace process,” Khalifa said within the affidavit.
Robert Cox, Hifter’s U.S. based lawyer, didn’t return a call and email Monday in search of to verify details of Sunday’s deposition.
Libya has been wracked by chaos since a NATO-backed rebellion toppled Gadhafi in 2011. Over the past decade, the oil-rich nation had been split between a Hifter-backed government within the east that receives Russian support, and a U.N.-supported administration in Tripoli.
Esam Omeish, president of the Libyan American Alliance, which supports one group of plaintiffs, confirmed Sunday’s deposition and called it a “historic precedent.”
“It is a giant step towards holding him liable on this civil suit and the start of exposing the crimes of this warlord, who has been the largest obstacle towards Libya’s peace and stability,” Omeish said in a press release.
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