U.S. Deputy Secretary Of State Wraps Up Libya Visit

Deputy U.S. Secretary of State William Burns on Thursday wrapped up a visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli during which he met with a host of Libyan officials.



As soon as he arrived in the Libyan capital on Wednesday evening, Burns met with interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni along with a host of other officials from the North African country.



Speaking in a press briefing at the end of his visit on Thursday, Burns said terrorism and extremism were the two most outstanding challenges for the Libyan society and the international community alike.



He said these challenges make it necessary for the U.S. to cooperate with its partners to help build the capacity of Libya's special security agencies.



An earlier statement by the U.S. Department of State said Burns' visit to Libya aimed to express support for the Libyan people's bid to achieve the objectives of the Libyan uprising that ended the autocracy of longstanding ruler Muammar Gaddafi.



Deputy Libyan parliament speaker Ezz Eddin al-Awami, who met the American official earlier, said Burns wanted to get updates about developments on Libya's political and security stage as well as means of increasing coordination between the U.S. and Libya.



"We submitted a request for increasing U.S. logistic support in the security and military fields," al-Awami told Anadolu Agency.



He added that the Libyan government also demanded an acceleration of the training of Libyan soldiers in U.S. military bases in Europe.



Libya has been suffering political and security instability since the overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011 as its nascent security forces have worked hard to contain militancy on the streets with the armed militias that helped overthrow the late strongman holding onto their weapons.



By Mohamed al-Nagem



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