Hundreds of Libyans marched in Benghazi, taking over the headquarters of a radical Islamic group tied to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Embassy that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
It’s getting hard to tell what’s what in Libya without a score card of some kind, but in this case, the protesters took over the terror group’s building, set a vehicle on fire, and said they’re gong to capture other Ansar al-Sharia buildings. Army General Naji al-Shuaibi said the citizens in tonight’s attacks are “revolutionaries of the February 17 uprising” and asked that the militia headquarters be turned over to the Libyan army.
“Indeed, we rushed here and we will now take it over. There are also other places that we intend to take over (which belong to armed groups) if the revolutionaries and the people allow us to do so.”
Meanwhile, another Libyan official, Mohamed al-Magariaf, the president of Libya’s General National Congress, thanked the protesters, but said some are gathered at locations where people are still loyal to the government and asked them to go home.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, applauded the citizen uprising and said it represents the freedom-loving Libya he and others know.
“Somewhere Chris Stevens is smiling. This is what we knew … about Libya.”