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· Joey Hood, the US acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs in the US State Department visited Libya and discussed various issues including presence of foreign military intervention in Libya
· The visit is a symbolic gesture to lend support for North African country’s transitional government for its efforts to return to a peaceful governance regime after a prolonged turbulence
· Importantly, US official urged the withdrawal of all foreign forces, echoing the sentiments of the UN and several countries from the western bloc
Joey Hood, the US acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs in the US State Department visited Libya and discussed various issues including the presence of foreign military intervention in Libya. The visit is a symbolic gesture to lend support for the North African country’s transitional government for its efforts to return to a peaceful governance regime after a prolonged turbulence. Importantly, The US official urged the withdrawal of all foreign forces, echoing the sentiments of the UN and several countries from the western bloc.
Joel Hood is the highest ranking US official to visit Tripoli since 2014. He said that the US opposed all military escalation and all foreign military intervention, alluding that the presence of foreign fighters in Libya was illegal and should be withdrawn. He called upon all parties to fully implement the ceasefire including the removal of all foreign military forces of all types.
The visiting dignitary held talks with Libyan transitional Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush.
Oil-rich Libya has been torn by conflicts since 2011. In October, rival groups signed a truce, setting in motion a UN-led process. This had led to formation of a transitional government under Dbeibah. The government has been tasked with holding national elections set for December. In an important development, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently said Libya has seen no reduction of foreign fighters or of their activities. More than 20,000 foreign troops including 13,000 Syrians and 11,000 Sudanese, as well as several hundred Turks and Russians are present in Libya, which has the potential to wreck the peace process.
