Biden admin 'actively' working to reopen US Embassy in Libya
The US has lacked a permanent diplomatic mission in Libya since heavy fighting forced American diplomats to withdraw in 2014.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is actively working to reestablish a diplomatic presence in Libya, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told senators Wednesday, nearly a decade after unrest in the Libyan capital forced American diplomats to withdraw.
The United States has lacked a diplomatic mission in the country since 2014, when more than 150 embassy personnel in Tripoli were evacuated under heavy military escort to neighboring Tunisia amid the budding Libyan civil war. Today, US diplomats assigned to Libya are based out of the Libya External Office in the compound of the US Embassy in Tunis.
Blinken declined to give a timetable for when the embassy might reopen but told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the administration was pursuing it.
“This is something we're very actively working on," Blinken said. "I want to see us be able to reestablish an ongoing presence in Libya."
