A U.S. court has recently dismissed multiple civil lawsuits against Khalifa Hifter, a former Virginia resident and Libyan military commander, who faced accusations of committing murders during the Libyan civil war.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, presiding over the case, stated in a court hearing on Friday that she lacked the jurisdiction to rule on allegations of war crimes that occurred in Libya. Hifter, who holds U.S. citizenship and lived in the northern Virginia suburbs for more than two decades as an exile from Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, had previously been issued a default judgment in 2022 by Brinkema for failing to appear at scheduled depositions concerning his role in Libya’s conflict.
However, after engaging new legal representation, Hifter managed to have the case reopened and subsequently participated in depositions in 2022 and 2023, where he denied orchestrating attacks on civilians.
Hifter, originally a lieutenant under Gadhafi, fled to the United States in the 1980s. It is widely believed that during his time in exile, he collaborated with the CIA. He returned to Libya in 2011 to aid the rebels who eventually overthrew and killed Gadhafi. Supported by countries such as Russia, Egypt, and the UAE, Hifter led the self-styled Libyan National Army during the civil war, gaining control over much of eastern Libya, where he continues to hold sway.
The lawsuits, initiated in 2019 by plaintiffs who claimed that their family members had been killed in civilian areas targeted by Hifter’s forces, also highlighted that Hifter and his family owned substantial real estate in Virginia, which could have been leveraged against a judgment.
In the legal proceedings, Hifter tried to claim immunity from the lawsuits by declaring his status as a head of state, given his candidacy in the upcoming Libyan presidential elections. The court had initially paused the cases amid concerns that they might be leveraged to influence the elections, which were later postponed.
