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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 4 August 2014:
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni today had talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in . . .[restrict]Washington.
The two men met for about an hour on the sidelines of the US-African Leaders Summit which was due to to be addressed by President Obama. There was no briefing on what was discussed. Afterwards Thinni thanked the US for its support. He singled out the US interception this March of the tanker Morning Glory with its cargo of illegally exported oil. This scotched attempts by Cyrenaica federalists forces led by Ibrahim Jadhran to fund themselves with sales from the export terminals they had seized.
“As a result,” said Thinni, speaking through an interpreter, “the Libyan Government has managed to solve the crisis of the oil. And today, we have four oil ports that are able to export oil inside of the security situation in that region”.
The prime minister said that he wanted to assure everyone that despite all the challenges and problems and armed conflict that Libya was experiencing, he hoped that, “with the assistance of our friends, particularly the U.S., we’ll be able to overcome this critical stage and lay the foundations of a democratic system and the peaceful transition of power”.
He continued: “We also urge the Libyan parliament to take very strong and solid resolutions that would enable the Libyan state and its institutions to be strong so that it can also overcome this very critical stage”.
Kerry said that Libya’s challenges could only be solved the Libyans themselves. Washington had pulled its diplomats out of Tripoli not because the embassy itself was being targeted but because the fighting for the airport was going on around it.
Emphasising that the departure was only temporary, Kerry said that the embassy personnel would be back as soon as security improved.
He said: “Above all, we want the recent elections that took place in Libya to be respected, and that means the legitimate Council of Representatives needs to be seated and the government needs to be able to move on with its work. We are committed to continuing to support the Libyan people, to work with the Libyan Government”. [/restrict]
