Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, the second highest ranking U.S. diplomat, will travel to Libya.
According to the White House, Negroponte will focus on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan as well as build stronger ties with the former "Axis of Evil" leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The trip, which includes stops in Chad, Mauritania and Sudan, will be the first time such a senior member of the State Department visited Libya in over 50 years.
While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been invited to meet with Libyan leaders, ongoing commitments in the Middle East and Washington have so-far kept such a summit from being scheduled.
