US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone call with the Foreign Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Najla Mangoush. During the phone call, Blinken and Mangoush discussed the upcoming elections on December 24 and the second Berlin Conference, which will take place on June 23.
Blinken expressed that it is very important that the elections take place on the scheduled dates. In addition to this, Blinken stated that it is necessary to stick to the ceasefire agreement agreed on by the 5+5 Joint Military Committee on October 23, 2020. In this context, the necessity of withdrawing all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya was emphasized.
The Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the US will continue to support the political process and national reconciliation in Libya and increase international diplomatic participation.
Biden, who increased his engagement with Libya in his tenure, recently appointed Richard Norland, the US Ambassador to Libya, as the Special Envoy to Libya. At the same time, the US Deputy Secretary of State Joey Hood visited the capital Tripoli on May 18 and met with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Head of the Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Najla Mangoush.
Hood became the highest U.S. official to visit the country since 2014, when U.S. Embassy personnel moved to Tunisia due to the deteriorating security conditions in the country caused by the civil war.
On September 11, 2012, the US Consulate in Benghazi was attacked by radical terrorist groups, and as a result of the attacks, US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other embassy employees lost their lives.
