U.S. Senator John McCain is travelling to Libya to meet with rebel forces, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, quoting a congressional aide to the senator.

McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is expected to arrive in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in Libya, on Friday, said Brooke Buchanan, McCain's press secretary.

Buchanan did not give any further details on the senator's visit to Benghazi, where Libyan rebels' national transitional council is based.

McCain is a strong proponent in Congress of the U.S. military intervention in Libya. He pressed for U.S. military intervention in Libya in February, citing the humanitarian tragedies in Rwanda and Bosnia in the 1990s.

He is also a vocal critic of the U.S. handing over of control of the Western military operation in Libya to NATO.