Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is in the in the U.S. this week to express approval renewal of the United Nations Mission in Libya and have some key meetings with President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, and other senior U.S. officials. This visit signals that Libya continues to actively solicit capacity building in all areas, welcome investment from U.S. companies, and maintain a close and cordial bilateral relationship markedly different from the Qaddafi years.Prime Minister Zeidan said in remarks on March 13 with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that
"I would like to confirm the importance of the relationship with the United States and the strategic aspect with the – of this new Libya. This relationship will be at the best level in various aspects – political, economic, and education and oil and the area of security cooperation – in order to achieve stability and peace in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and North Africa and the coast and the desert...We dealt with various aspects of our relationship, and various issues of cooperation in the future, regardless of the education of Libyans here in America or our military cooperation, security cooperation, and economic and political cooperation, particularly trying to retrieve the money that was stolen from Libya, and the American Administration is committed to help us. And in the area of training and various other fields, the most important is the security cooperation in order to establish security and stability in the world and in the area of the Middle East and North Africa."
Based on White House statements after Ali Zeidan's meetings there, the U.S. rightly is committed to supporting Libya's stability as part of an international team.
The President expressed the United States’ support for the Libyan people and their government as they continue their democratic transition. The President reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks against the U.S. mission in Benghazi are brought to justice, and stressed the importance of Libya’s cooperation with the ongoing investigation. The two leaders discussed how the United States and Libya could work together, along with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and our partners in the international community, to strengthen Libya's government institutions, and particularly to enhance security and the rule of law.