The US has held a flurry of meetings with key actors as part of the push for Bathily’s latest initiative to reach fruition. On 20 and 21 December, US Special Envoy Richard Norland and Charge d’Affaires Jeremy Berdnt meet separately with a raft of key players including Government of National Unity (GNU) Minister of Interior Emad Trabelsi; GNU PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba; Presidential Council (PC) deputies Abdullah al-Lafi and Mousa al-Koni; PC head Muhammed al-Menfi; High State Council (HSC) head Muhammed Takala; and High National Elections Commission (HNEC) head Emad al-Sayeh.
The embassy noted that the US Defense Attaché Office recently met with Khairi Tamimi, the office director of Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar, in Benghazi, presumably when Norland and Berndt met Hafter on 19 December, discussing US support for cooperation between Libya’s military institutions and the importance of unification under a civilian-led government.