US pledges $500,000 in security assistance to Libya

TRIPOLI

The U.S. on Tuesday pledged $500,000 in security assistance to Libya's UN-backed National Accord Government.

U.S. Ambassador to Tripoli Peter Bodde and AFRICOM Commander Gen. Thomas Waldhauser met Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in the capital Tripoli.

The U.S. officials "affirmed Washington's support for Libya as a unified, secure, and prosperous state under a government that can serve the Libyan people," the U.S. Embassy in Libya said in a statement.

The financial aid comes "in rapid-response non-lethal assistance in support of Ministry of Interior efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Tripoli Security Directorate," the statement said.

"This new assistance complements the United States’ $30 million in ongoing security assistance in support of Government of National Accord priorities," it added.

Libya has remained beset by violence turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Al-Bayda (with which Haftar is affiliated) and another in Tripoli -- along with a host of heavily-armed militia groups.

Writing by Mahmoud Barakat