Condoleezza Rice will make the first visit to Libya by a senior American diplomat in 55 years.
The U.S. secretary of state’s three-day North Africa trip scheduled to begin Friday signals the warming of U.S.-Libya relations. Rice is scheduled to meet with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. She also will visit Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
The last U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya was John Foster Dulles in 1953.
During her Libya visit, Rice may sign a bilateral trade and investment deal. She also will discuss deals in the areas of education, security and culture.
The U.S. is pushing Libya to implement a deal signed last month between the two countries to create a humanitarian fund to resolve compensation cases involving victims of U.S. and Libyan bombings.
