The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, visited Cairo on 10th August to meet Egyptian officials and the commander of Dignity Operation, General Khalifa Haftar.
According to the US embassy in Libya’s Twitter page, Norland’s visit to Cairo comes “as part of US efforts to support Libyan parliamentary and presidential elections in December.”
The US embassy stated that Norland “continues to focus on the urgency of supporting the difficult compromises necessary to establish the constitutional basis and legal framework needed now in order for the elections to take place on 24th December.”
The embassy added that the US “supports the right of the Libyan people to select their leaders through an open democratic process and calls on key figures to use their influence at this critical stage to do what is best for all Libyans.”
Many had reacted against Norland’s actions in supporting and recognising Haftar as a key figure in Libya who can positively end the Libyan crisis.
Some ask why Norland meets Haftar in Cairo and how Norland would react to Haftar’s Monday speech when he said that he refuses to surrender to any authority in Libya in the name of civil.
Some commented that the US had sent Norland to meet the war criminal who killed the civilians in Libya. The US needs to consider the mass grave in Tarhona and the landmines left by Haftar’s troops in Tripoli.
Some others said that the US is not supporting democracy in Libya; they are doing the opposite by supporting dictatorship.
They described Haftar as a war criminal who insists on keeping the Russian mercenaries to kill the Libyan people like what happened in Tripoli. Therefore, why Norland insists on describing him as an army commander?
