On 6 October, US Charge D’Affaires Jeremy Berndt met in Benghazi with Khaled Haftar as part of the US’ ‘ongoing engagement with Libyan military leaders from all parts of the country’, discussing ‘US-Libya military cooperation, efforts to strengthen the capacity of professional security forces across Libya and the importance of a unified military to safeguard Libyan sovereignty.’ Berndt also met with Belqasim Haftar, discussing the primary economic and reconstruction challenges facing Libya and stressing that ‘transparent and accountable management of revenues is essential to Libya’s stability and prosperity.’
On 7 October, Berndt met with House of Representatives (HoR) First Deputy Speaker Fawzi Nuweiri, discussing the HoR’s ‘vital role’ in the recent UNSMIL-facilitated deal on Central Bank of Libya (CBL) leadership, as well as the importance of unified Libyan and international support for the UNSMIL-facilitated political process. Berndt said the US ‘encourages all sides to avoid unilateral steps in order to reduce tensions and enable progress toward consensus-based political solutions.’ He also met with Mahmoud Ferjani, saying he appreciated his views on the economic and development challenges facing Libya.