This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Sarah Ferris.

The former Libyan ambassador to the U.S. praised current U.S.-led operations in Libya at a speech Monday night at the School of Media and Public affairs, the same night President Obama gave a landmark speech on the military mission in the African country.

Ali Aujali – who resigned from his ambassadorship in February in the midst of the Libyan uprising – spoke for just 12 minutes because he had just received a White House invitation to attend Obama’s speech on the situation, due to start one hour later in Virginia.

Aujali told the audience to be proud of American leadership for extending support “at the right time.”

“The time is now for us,” Aujali said.

Aujali said the U.S. role in Libya does not end at a ceasefire and said Libya would continue to look to its international allies, especially the U.S., for help establishing a government after military involvement ends.

He said that he and his country have waited more than 40 years for help to challenge Moammar Gadhafi’s oppressive rule, and will now rely on American political and economic experiences to establish a free Libya.

“We must keep the coalition [between Libya and the U.S.] strong,” Aujali said.

After the ambassador departed, the president of the American-Libyan Council Fadel Lamen echoed Aujali’s praise of international support.

Lamen said the post-conflict relationship will be even more crucial for Libyans because of the country’s underdeveloped infrastructure and economy.

“After the guns are silenced, Libyans will be counting on the other nations,” Lamen said. He said that European countries will likely play a larger role in the development of a democratic Libya because of the nation’s physical proximity to Europe.

Lamen said Libyans do not expect other nations to take the reigns on their movement.

“Libyans want the honor of taking care of this themselves,” Lamen said.

A third speaker, Hafed al Ghwell, an alumnus and a Libyan-American, said he wanted the audience to realize Libya is not the next Iraq – a theme Obama echoed in his Monday night address – and that Libyans will largely be economically self-sufficient.

He described the Libyan economy as “strange” in that it has the economic resources to build up the state, but lacks the political capacity.

“The U.S. intervened to protect innocent people,” al Ghwell said. “This is the best way the U.S. intervenes.”