Russia trying to gain influence in Libya: US general

Russia is trying to expand its influence in Libya through a combination of military means and oil and weapons sales, a top US general said.

General Thomas Tom Waldhauser, who heads the US military's Africa Command, said Russia is "on the ground" in the border region between Egypt and Libya.

"They are trying to influence the action, we watch what they do with great concern," Waldhauser told Pentagon reporters.

"In addition to the military side of this, we've seen some recent activity in business ventures -- whether it's oil, whether it's weapon sales that perhaps were stopped when the (Moamer) Kadhafi regime took place."

A US official this month told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)