The Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, called for the acceleration of the launching of the Libyan-American Forum for Development and Reconstruction; with the aim of building strategic partnerships that benefit the two countries, referring to the recent visit of the Director-General of the Libyan Development and Reconstruction Fund, Belgassim Haftar, to the US, and his invitation to American companies to contribute to the implementation of development and reconstruction projects, especially large strategic projects that require vast capabilities and expertise.
This came during Saleh's visit to the headquarters of the US State Department in Washington on Monday, as he met with the Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, John Bass, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, and US Special Envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, according to a statement by the spokesman for the HoR, Abdullah Blehiq.
Saleh discussed with American officials a number of issues regarding the comprehensive settlement of the political crisis in Libya and ways to activate the political process, as he reviewed the Libyan crisis and a number of proposed solutions that require the support and assistance of the international community in order to achieve the will of the Libyan people to organize presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible and end the political as well as institutional division.
Bass hailed the role of the HoR and the High Council of State in addressing the crisis of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), "which almost destroyed the Libyan economy and the largest financial institution in the country," stressing the need to form a board of directors for the CBL from highly qualified people, with the aim of restoring confidence with international financial institutions.
In the meantime, Leaf expressed her happiness with Aqila's visit, saying that this visit was the beginning of serious and fruitful cooperation to resolve the Libyan crisis.
