US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta is in Libya to meet its new government. The hours-long visit - the first by a Pentagon chief to Tripoli - will include talks with Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib and Defence Minister Osama al-Juwali. It follows a UN decision on Friday to lift sanctions on Libya's central bank and its investments subsidiary. That move cleared the way for Libya's new government to gain control of tens of billions of dollars frozen overseas. Ahead of his visit, Mr Panetta said that while Libya faced difficultuies, he was optimistic about the future for a people courageous enough to overthrow a leader like Col Gaddafi. "I'm confident that ultimately they're going to be able to succeed in putting a democracy together in Libya," he said. During his short trip, the Pentagon chief is set to visit the reported graveyard of 13 US sailors killed in 1804 during a mission to destroy pirate ships in Tripoli's harbour. The interim government in Tripoli had recently stepped up calls for the release of some $150bn (£96bn) held abroad to pay employee salaries and keep the country's basis services running. The UN, US and UK had imposed sanctions against former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime after it tried to crush the popular uprising against him. The uprising virtually shut Libya's oil industry - the world's eight largest - and exports only resumed in September. Officials say they expect crude oil output to return to normal levels of around 1.6m barrels per day by the end of 2012.
