U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has offered some $11 million worth of additional aid to Libya during a recent visit to the country’s capital city, where she met with leaders of the National Transitional Council.
The offer was made partly to confirm continued U.S. support for Libya’s transitional government, The Associated Press notes, citing administration aides. It comes on top of the approximately $135 million in assistance provided and pledged by the United States since the uprising to oust Moammar Gadhafi started in February.
The new aid package includes medical assistance for wounded fighters, including for the evacuation and treatment of fighters who require medical attention abroad. The offer also includes funding for efforts to find and destroy stockpiles of Gadhafi-era weapons that local and international officials fear could end up in the hands of terrorist groups.
As part of the aid offer, the United States will relaunch some of its educational programs in Libya, including English-language training workshops and the Fulbright scholarship program. Clinton was also expected to stress the need for good governance, democratization, inclusion and diversification of Libya’s economy, The Associated Press notes.
Clinton is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Libya since the start of the uprising against Gadhafi, whose location is still unknown. She is also only the second U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya in the past 50 years.
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