On Monday, the US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland urged all Libyan leaders to work together and make the necessary compromises on behalf of the Libyan people, in order to hold free and fair elections on 24 December.
During a press conference in Tripoli, Norland said: “Time is like a sword. If you don’t cut it, it will cut you,” regarding the absence of a legal basis for the December elections.
Notably, the Ambassador attended the signing ceremony between the Libyan national telecommunications company, Hatif Libya and the American company Infinera for a project to upgrade Libya’s telecommunications fiber-optic network.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, US Assistant Undersecretary of the Treasury Eric Mayer, and Libyan Transportation Minister Mohamed El-Shoubi attended the ceremony.
“I was pleased to see the new contract signed between American company Infinera and Libya’s Hatif for a project to upgrade Libya’s telecommunications fiber-optic network,” Ambassador Norland said. “It’s an example of how improving stability and continued political progress can lead to jobs and economic benefits for the Libyan people,” he added.
For his part, Dbaiba stated that the agreement was a “strong step” in advancing the Libyan-American economic relationship. “The step is enhancing confidence that we are on the right path towards integrating state institutions to provide digital services to all, through which citizens have equal opportunities,” he explained.