American Military Team Visits Libya to Assess Risks of Reopening U.S. Embassy
TRIPOLI, Libya ? American forces are back on the shores of Tripoli ? albeit in a small way.
Seven months of images from the fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
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Four members of the American military are in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, to determine what security measures are necessary to reopen the United States Embassy here, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
The embassy closed when staff members and other American citizens were evacuated during the six-month revolution that drove Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from power. It is now preparing to reopen as Libyan-American relations begin a new chapter.
Diplomatic relations with what is now Libya have a complex history going back to America?s first decades. Though another North African Muslim state, Morocco, was among the first countries in the world to recognize the United States diplomatically, the new nation soon fought the Barbary Wars in the region over attacks on its ships by Berber pirates from Tripoli ? the origin of the ?shores of Tripoli? reference in the Marines? Hymn.
In more recent years, given America?s seesawing relationship with Colonel Qaddafi, the United States Embassy was closed for a long time. Even after it reopened in 2006, it was guarded by Libyan security personnel, not the Marine guards that are common at other diplomatic posts around the world.
Now, with Colonel Qaddafi ousted, many Libyans express excitement at the prospect of improved relations with the West and the rest of the world. Officials of the de facto government and citizens alike say they plan to seek foreign advice about establishing the rule of law, expanding their economy and adhering to international human rights standards after decades of isolation.
The challenges involved were highlighted on Tuesday when Amnesty International released a report contending that anti-Qaddafi forces had committed unlawful killings and torture during the rebellion.
The report said that the pro-Qaddafi forces had committed many more serious violations, but that Colonel Qaddafi?s opponents ?have also committed human rights abuses, in some cases amounting to war crimes, albeit on a smaller scale.?
The Transitional National Council, the new government in Libya, issued a statement on Tuesday acknowledging that there had been ?a small number of incidents? committed by anti-Qaddafi fighters during the uprising.
The council condemned ?any abuses perpetrated by either side? and said it was ?firmly committed to upholding human rights and the rule of law, both international and local ? the violation of rights no longer has a place in Libya.?
Dr. Aref Nayed, the chief of the council?s stabilization team, said a day before the report was released that a top priority was to seek the advice of international experts to establish Libyan institutions that could protect the human rights of both sides in the conflict.
Many Libyans say they are hungry for foreign advice and help; some road signs even display the flags of the United States and other Western countries and thank them for their assistance ? a rare sight in this part of the world. But Libyans are wary of the possibility that foreign interests might hijack their revolution, making even the visit of four members of the American military a delicate matter.
Capt. John Kirby of the Navy, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press that the American service members, including two who specialize in the disposal of explosives, are not in Libya in an offensive or defensive military capacity, only to help the State Department.
The Pentagon has acknowledged only once before that American service members were inside Libya during the uprising ? in March, when Marines rescued an American pilot who had ejected over the country while participating in a NATO airstrike. There has been speculation that intelligence personnel were on the ground helping to target airstrikes. The White House said no ground troops would be deployed during the NATO action.
Diplomatic relations soured early in Colonel Qaddafi?s rule; the United States withdrew its ambassador in 1972 and closed its embassy in 1979 after a mob burned it. That same year, the United States listed Libya as a sponsor of terrorism; in 1986, after a bombing in a Berlin disco, the United States conducted airstrikes in Libya. Relations worsened with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.
But in 2003, relations started to normalize after Colonel Qaddafi renounced chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. A liaison office opened in 2004; it was upgraded to an embassy in 2006.
While other American embassies in the region tend to be fortresslike compounds, the Libyan government had not given permission for construction, and the American diplomatic offices in Tripoli were instead in residential houses.
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