Blinken hints US might open up embassy in troubled Libya
The United States is “actively” working on re-establishing a diplomatic presence in Libya, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, although he declined to provide an exact time on when the US embassy might be reopened on March 23, reports Reuters.
Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gadhafi and it split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, with the last major bout of conflict ending in 2020 with a ceasefire.
A September 2012 assault on the US consulate in Benghazi (picture), since closed, killed four Americans including the then US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
Washington shut its embassy in Tripoli in 2014 and moved to its mission to neighbouring Tunis following intensifying violence between rival factions.
