Libya Holds Missile-Firing Maneuvers

Libya said Sunday that it has begun three days of missile-firing exercises in the Gulf of Sidra, in the wake of a report that carrier-based U.S. Navy jets have been flying near the disputed waters for weeks.

The official Libyan news agency Jana, monitored in London, said that all targets have been hit since the war games began off Libya’s Mediterranean coast Saturday.

The Washington Post quoted Pentagon officials Sunday as saying that Navy planes from the aircraft carrier Forrestal had been flying over the northern gulf for several weeks. The Forrestal has now left the area, but the carrier America is continuing the U.S. presence there, the officials said.

In April, U.S. jets bombed Libya after Kadafi was accused of backing international terrorism.