The US Department of Defense (The Pentagon) on Saturday welcomed Libya’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Abdulsalam Al-Zoubi, marking the first official visit by a Libyan Defense Ministry official to the Pentagon in over a decade.
During the visit, Al-Zoubi held a series of high-level meetings with senior US defense officials, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Director for African Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, David Cate, and Rear Admiral Erin Osborne, Director for Middle East and Africa Affairs at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Also present at the meetings were US Defense Attaché to Libya, Lt. Col. Ethan Irwin; Lt. Col. Spencer Probst from the North Africa Office at the Department of Defense; and Lt. Col. Thomas Clark from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The discussions focused on strengthening military and security cooperation between Libya and the United States, particularly in areas such as training, capacity building, and counterterrorism—aligned with Libya’s aspirations to rebuild its defense institutions based on modern professional standards.
As part of his US visit, Deputy Minister Al-Zoubi will also attend the 2025 Special Operations Forces Week, which will be held in Tampa, Florida, from May 5 to 8, with broad participation from defense ministries and special forces leaders from around the world.
