U.S. Intel Chiefs brief Congress On Current Threats

FBI Director James Comey (L), U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (C) and CIA Director John Brennan (R) take their seats to testify in a House Appropriations hearing on "World Wide Threats" on Capitol Hill in Washington February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Reuters: U.S. spy chiefs expect continuing problems in Libya, Ukraine

U.S. spy agencies expect continuing upheaval in Libya and Ukraine, top intelligence officials told Congress on Thursday.

James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told a House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing that the United States had "great hope" that a new government of national accord will soon be formed in Libya.

But at the same hearing, CIA chief John Brennan acknowledged that the United States in practice was pursuing a two-track policy in Libya, in which it was engaged both in a diplomatic effort to knit together two competing, regionally based self-proclaimed Libyan governments while also conducting "counter terrorism" operations against a growing contingent of Islamic State militants.

U.S. officials now estimate that up to 4,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Libya to base themselves in Islamic State training camps that have sprouted up around the country, where they have joined up with hundreds if not thousands of local Libyans who have joined the movement.

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