U.S. AFRICOM Deputy Commander John Brennan, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa Commander Ronald Foy, and US Chargé d’Affaires Jeremy Berndt held several meetingsin Libya this week.
On 16 July, they met Prime Minister Abdul Hameed Dabaiba in Tripoli, discussing ‘the regional security situation and the importance of working together with professional military officers across all of Libya to protect Libya’s sovereignty’ and to take tangible steps toward military reunification. They also met with Chief of Staff (CoS) Muhammed al-Haddad along with the Vice Chief and Service Chiefs in Tripoli, agreeing ‘to expand our cooperation in exercises, education, and exchanges with all Libyan military professionals and to work together with eastern, western, and southern security actors toward unity to help Libyans protect their borders and sovereignty.’
The US delegation then visited Misrata on 17 July where they met with Central Military Zone Commander Muhammed Musa, Counterterrorism Force Commander Muhammed Zain, Misrata Air Academy Commander Muhammed Rajab al-Qusaybat, and 53rd Brigade Commander Ahmed Hashim, with a focus on counterterrorism, border security cooperation and professional development.
Finally on 20 July, the US delegation visited Benghazi, meeting with Libyan National Army (LNA) CoS of Security Units (and son of LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar) Khaled Haftar and then with LNA CoS of Ground Forces Saddam Haftar. Their messaging was similar to the western region meetings, stressing ‘commitment to partnership with Libyans in east, west, and south to enhance counterterrorism and border security cooperation and support Libyan efforts to bolster Libya’s stability and sovereignty and reunify military institutions.’ They also agreed to expand ‘exercises, education, and exchanges with Libyan military officers’ from across the country.