Progress in Libya Dialogue

American and Libyan officials on Friday discussed the possibility of assigning representatives to one another’s capitals and ending the ban on Americans’ traveling to the North African country, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

Although agreements were not reached in either area, their mention in talks here between U.S. and Libyan representatives was another signal of rapidly improving ties between the longtime foes.

The United States has maintained a 17-year embargo on Libya and lists it as a supporter of terrorism.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy said the meeting between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns and Libyan officials was “very positive and thorough.”

The embassy said Burns had praised the Libyans for their country’s “excellent progress” in the dismantling of its chemical, nuclear, biological and missile weapons programs, as it agreed in December.

The statement said the delegations had discussed ways to increase contacts between the two nations, such as a possible visit to Libya in the coming weeks by American disease prevention experts.

It said that if Libya continues to make progress on its commitments, the United States could “in the near term” end the ban on Americans’ traveling to Libya and spending money there.

“To support this range of activities, as well as continued U.S. assistance to Libya in dismantling its WMD ... programs, the two delegations also discussed the possibility of assigning a small number of personnel to each other’s capitals given the absence of functioning embassies,” the embassy statement said.