Rep. Sherman demands Libya turn over rebel leaders with US 'blood on their hands'

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) on Monday said the Obama administration should demand that Libyan rebels turn over to U.S. authorities any rebel leaders with U.S. "blood on their hands."

In a floor speech, Sherman identified Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi as one Libyan rebel leader who has bragged about sending men to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq. "We should insist that such individuals be turned over to the United States, and if they can't find them, that they at least disassociate themselves," he said.

Sherman noted that U.S. officials have ignored this request by saying that Moammar Gadhafi has more U.S. blood on his hands, but he rejected this response.

"I do not think that it makes sense to say the rebels should be aided as long as they have less Ameircan blood on their hands than does Gadhafi," he said. "The test of whether these rebels will be allies and friends of America, or the opposite, is whether they turn over or use their best efforts to turn over al-Hasidi to the United States."

Sherman also said the U.S. should ask the Benghazi Council, the rebel group that some have recognized as the legitimate Libyan government, to authorize the U.S. use of $30 billion in frozen Libyan assets to pay for military action in Libya.

"We have seized $30 billion of Libyan assets," he said. "Those assets should be used first, before we use money collected from American taxpayers."