US pledges $500,000 in security assistance to Libya

<p>By Walid Abdullah</p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – The U.S. on Tuesday pledged $500,000 in security assistance to Libya's UN-backed National Accord Government.</p> <p>U.S. Ambassador to Tripoli Peter Bodde and AFRICOM Commander Gen. Thomas Waldhauser met Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in the capital Tripoli.</p> <p>The U.S. officials &quot;affirmed Washington's support for Libya as a unified, secure, and prosperous state under a government that can serve the Libyan people,&quot; the U.S. Embassy in Libya said in a statement.</p> <p>The financial aid comes &quot;in rapid-response non-lethal assistance in support of Ministry of Interior efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Tripoli Security Directorate,&quot; the statement said. </p> <p>&quot;This new assistance complements the United States’ $30 million in ongoing security assistance in support of Government of National Accord priorities,&quot; it added.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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. </p>