Ashour Ben Khayal (Arabic: عاشور بن خيال), sometimes romanised Ben Hayal, (born September 1939)[1] is a Libyan diplomat and politician who was born in the Cyrenaican city of Derna in September 1939.

He was named Foreign Minister on 22 November 2011 by Abdurrahim El-Keib in a surprise move, as the position was originally reported to be filled by Libya's deputy ambassador to United Nations Ibrahim Dabbashi.

[2] Ben Khayal was previously the first secretary at the Libyan embassy in Rome in the late 1960s.

He was also Libya’s ambassador to Korea but resigned in 1984 after a gunman fired from the Libyan embassy in London at a protest outside, killing police officer Yvonne Fletcher.

In 2005, after the killing of Kikhia, he served as Chairman and later as president for the National Conference of the Libyan Opposition.