WASHINGTON - The United States is working on re-establishing a diplomatic presence in Libya, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, but he declined to give an exact time on when the US embassy can be reopened.
Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and split between rival eastern and western factions in 2014, with the last major conflict ending in 2020 with a ceasefire.
In 2014, Washington shut its embassy in Tripoli and moved its mission to Tunis after increasing violence between rival factions. Richard Norland, a US special envoy for Libya, has operated out of the Tunisian capital and took occasional trips into Libya.
A September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, which was closed, has killed four Americans, including the then US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
I can't give you a timetable, but we're very active in this area. Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that we want to be able to re-establish an ongoing presence in Libya.
Blinken didn't provide any details on the active work he referred to.
Assistant Secretary Barbara Leaf, top diplomat for the Middle East and North Africa, is currently touring the region, going to Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon and Tunisia on March 15 -- 25.
In Libya, Leaf will meet with senior Libyan officials to highlight the US support for UN-facilitated efforts to promote consensus leading to elections in 2023. There is an important moment where there is a path forward to moving Libya in a better direction, including getting elected for a legitimate government and our diplomats are deeply engaged in that, according to the State Department.
The OPEC member country has been locked in political stalemate since late 2021 when a scheduled election was cancelled due to disagreements over the rules and the eastern-based parliament, the House of Representatives, withdrew support from the interim government.
Peacemaking efforts have centered on getting the House of Representatives and the High State Council to agree on a constitutional basis for elections and voting rules.
The United Nations special envoy for Libya last month moved to take charge of a stalled political process to allow elections that are seen as the path to resolving years of conflict.