WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday nominated a new ambassador to Libya, filling a post vacant since Chris Stevens was killed in the Benghazi attack last Sept. 11.
The nomination of Deborah Jones (pictured), a career diplomat who has served in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and the now-shuttered US Embassy in Syria, signals the United States’ commitment to the North African country as it undergoes a perilous transition from decades of dictatorship.
Jones will assume a difficult position in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
The North African country has been beset by lawlessness and political instability since rebels, with the help of the United States and other governments, overthrew longtime dictator Moammar Khadafy in 2011.
The announcement came as Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan, and a little more than six months after terrorists stormed the US diplomatic mission and killed Stevens and three other Americans.
No one has yet been apprehended for the attack, which has caused political headaches for Obama.