French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron are scheduled to visit the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Thursday and meet with officials from the National Transitional Council (NTC). This is the first visit by a foreign leader since the Libyan rebels toppled Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime. The two European leaders will then head to Benghazi in eastern Libya. Benghazi had been the defacto capital for the NTC until taking over Tripoli last month. NTC officials said that Cameron and Sarkozy will be meeting with the head of the NTC Mustafa Abdel Jalil. “We say to the leaders coming tomorrow that they will be safe,” Jalil was quoted as saying by BBC news. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also sechduled to arrive in Libya on Thursday as part of his North African tour of the Arab Spring. France was one of the first nations to push for military intervention by the NATO forces and the first to recognize the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. US Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman was on a visit to Libya for one day on Wednesday. He met with Jalil and Prime Minister equivalent Mahmoud Jibril. He also met with Libyan activists and civil society organizations. Feltman said he was delivering two message to the Libyan nation. “First, we respect Libya's sovereignty. Going forward, we want to work within the context of Libya's sovereignty and Libya's independence. “Second, the United States and our international partners do have an enduring commitment to supporting the Libyan people as they chart their own future. And third, we want to build a broad relationship with Libya based on mutual respect and shared interests. Those were sort of the highlights of the message I was giving,” he added. BM
