FALLS CHURCH, Va.: A federal judge has rejected a request from a Libyan military commander who once lived in Virginia to toss out lawsuits accusing him of war atrocities.
At a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Judge Leonie Brinkema said the accusations against Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Hifter are very problematic and they’re allegations of some very, very serious conduct.
The lawsuits, filed by the families of victims, claim that civilians were killed indiscriminately during Hifters military campaigns. Some family members allege that relatives were singled out for torture and execution by Hifter’s army.
Hifter, once a lieutenant to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, defected to the U.S. during the 1980s and spent many years living in northern Virginia. According to one of the lawsuits, Hifter and his family purchased 17 properties in Virginia between…