The Financial Times is reporting that it has seen a draft US government document proposing significant cuts to the State Department’s activities in Africa, including the closure of US embassies on the continent and the dismantling of the Bureau of African Affairs. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the document “a hoax”.
The Maltese Herald can confirm that cuts of US intelligence and defence activities in the Mediterranean have already taken place across several departments including the Defense Department and the State Department in what the US government is describing as a reprioritisation of its activities. However, The Maltese Herald can also confirm that the US increased its drone surveillance activities of Libya this year.
Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, the USS Mount Whitney called at the port of Tripoli after having departed the port of Tunis, with a visit by Vice Admiral J.T. Anderson, Commander of the US Sixth Fleet. The US naval amphibious command ship is set to visit Benghazi following its trip in Tripoli. The USS Mount Whitney visited Malta in January.
The US Embassy in Malta denied that it is closing down.
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