As usual, using their extensive propaganda machine, a network of Muslim Brotherhood operatives claimed a Virginia court accused Libyan leader, Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libya National Army, of being a “war criminal.” This is completely false. Upon checking the verdict in a civil suit against him launched by pro-Ikhwan individuals, it was learned that the default judgement by the judge that Haftar is liable of payments to these individuals “because he didn’t show up for deposition,” though as a chief executive of a foreign country another set of regulations applies.

The Virginia judge never ruled that the Libyan commander, who has been leading the resistance against the Jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood since 2014, had committed “war crimes.” This slogan used by the Ikhwan against their enemies, was never uttered by the judge. Though hours after the ruling, which gives Haftar’s lawyers a chance to rebut at later date, US based Islamist militants rushed to video themselves in front of the Federal court in Virginia claiming Haftar was branded war criminal by a US court. The Brotherhood claim was repeated by AP, and the mainstream media, echoed by al Jazeera and an army of Islamist websites worldwide, in multiple languages. A claim that did not represent the decision of the court can be pursued in the US justice system as slander.

More scrutiny is expected in the US about this case.