CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he will visit Libya, becoming the first Pentagon chief to travel to the embattled country, which is emerging from an eight-month civil war. Speaking Tuesday to U.S. troops, Panetta said he will also travel to Iraq in the coming days for a ceremony that will shut down the U.S. military mission there after nearly nine years at war. Panetta's plan to visit Libya comes amid ongoing violence there, including recent clashes between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near Tripoli's airport. Panetta says the U.S. wants to help Libyans move in the right direction as the people take back their country. With military assistance from the U.S. and NATO, Libyans ousted and later killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi earlier this year.
