Libya: US consulate comes under attack

It came two weeks before the country is due to hold its first post-Gadhafi national elections.

Abdel-Basit Haroun, a militia commander in Benghazi who is cooperating with the government to restore security, said the consulate came under attack at about 9 a.m., and no casualties have been reported.

The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment and further information was not available.

The transitional leadership based in the capital of Tripoli has failed to impose its authority on much of the oil-rich North African nation nearly eight months after Gadhafi was killed while in rebel custody. Instability has only increased as cities, towns, regions, militias and tribes all act on their own, setting up their independent power centers.

Earlier this week, a militia group briefly occupied the airport outside Tripoli with armored vehicles and automatic weapons, forcing airport authorities to divert flights to another Tripoli air base.