US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns arrived in Libya today to become the highest-level US visitor in more than 30 years.
The visit resulted from a dramatic improvement in relations between Washington and Tripoli after Libya's surprise decision in December to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programmes.
Mr Burns was expected to hold talks with Libyan leader Col Muammar Gadafy during his brief stay, government sources said. They gave no time for the meeting.