Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan will reopen its embassy in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, within the few coming days, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Kayed said on Tuesday.

Jordan’s mission to the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) will soon relocate from Benghazi to the premises of the Jordanian embassy in Tripoli, according to Kayed.

“The decision to reopen our embassy in the Libyan capital was taken in light of the improvement of situations on the ground,” Kayed told The Jordan Times yesterday.

He added that the embassy was closed and the staff was brought back to Amman in April due to the fighting and violence that had erupted.

According to the spokesperson, around 9,000 Jordanians used to reside in Libya before the revolution started, adding that after the missions left the Libya territories, many Jordanians left Libya by different means of transportation.

“We believe that no more than 2,000 Jordanians are still living in Libya. Hopefully, the embassy will communicate with the Jordanian citizens once it resumes its services and we will be able to accurately identify the number of our citizens there,” he added.

The reopening of the Jordanian embassy in Tripoli also reconfirms Jordan’s recognition of the NTC of Libya as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted the official as saying.

Jordan recognised the council in May. It also presented humanitarian and logistic assistance to Libya within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

In an international conference on Libya held in Paris last week, His Majesty King Abdullah voiced Jordan’s readiness to contribute to the reconstruction of Libya and maintaining its stability, including providing it with military and police training as well as capacity building in the educational, judicial, medical and construction fields.


*Jordan Times