US moves troops to base near Tripoli amid rising security concerns in Libya
As chaos spreads, Washington wants to be ready to rescue staff if needed
Alarmed by developments in Libya, the United States has moved 200 troops to a base in Sicily so they can respond more quickly if the US needs to evacuate its embassy in Tripoli.
The troop move is the latest acknowledgment from the Obama administration that three years after a Nato bombing campaign helped topple the government of Muammar Gaddafi, conditions are deteriorating and security concerns previously confined to Benghazi and Libya's east have spread to Tripoli and the west.
Washington worries that Islamist militias could easily close Tripoli's airport, complicating any effort to evacuate US diplomats if the situation deteriorates further.
Militias are also in position to seize control of Libya's other airports, including the one in Benghazi, where militants in 2012 attacked US diplomatic facilities, killing four Americans including the ambassador, Christopher Stevens.
One senior diplomat in Tripoli said US officials were living under severe security restrictions. "You have to have a new normal," said the diplomat. "We're built to hunker down."
The fluidity of the security situation in Tripoli was in evidence on Friday, as Algeria reportedly sent in members of its special forces and a military plane to evacuate its ambassador and staff after militants threatened them.