Tag: post-Gaddafi Libya

Libya and Turkey have signed an agreement under which the Turkish army is to provide technical assistance to the Libyan military to help secure the land, sea and air borders as well as the oil installations in the eastern part of the country.

The Benghazi-based newpaper, Corina, said its website on Saturday that the agreement followed a visit a Turkish delegation to the eastern town Derna and that the deal included the installation of integrated cameras and electronic surveillance equipment, maintenance and repair of airports as well as the construction of some new one in the Libyan interior.

The newspaper stated also that the agreement between the Libyan and Turkish Defence Ministries included the establishment of border observation posts, the renovation of some ports and to supply the units of revolutionaries who have joined the state security services with equipment including coastguard boats. The agreement is also said to make provision for the short training courses for those former revolutionaries in the east of the country who have recently joined the Libyan army and police. It is joped in order to qualify them and thus hopes to have the eastern region a model that can be applied to all other Libyan cities.

The newspaper quoted the Libyan Defense Ministry Undersecretary, Colonel Hussein Shokri, saying that under the agreement the Turkish army would assist the Libyan army in securing borders and strategic locations as well as provide the latest technology to help prevent smuggling and border infiltration.

Shokri confirmed that a joint committee had been formed to implement the agreement. As part of it, a number of former revolutionaries as well as regular soldiers would be sent within days for training at military colleges in Turkey.

The newspaper also quoted Libyan Director of Relations and International Cooperation Brigadier General Hamad Muftah Shelwi saying that an agreement had also been made with Turkey for the supply of unmanned aircraft to control the Libyan borders and as well as patrol boats to deal with illegal immigration issue, smuggling and other clandestine activities.

via Libya and Turkey in military deal: report | Libya Herald.

By Associated Press,

BENGHAZI, Libya — The Libyan government says it will send former rebels abroad to receive police training in an effort to rebuild the country’s battered security forces.

The transitional government says more than 2,500 former rebels will be sent to Jordan and Turkey for the first round of training. No timetable was given.

Some 10,000 Libyans will eventually train in Jordan in several stages, the government said. More than 1,300 will be sent to Turkey, in accordance with signed agreements.

Both Turkey and Jordan threw their support behind the rebels who toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last year after months of civil war.

The Libyan government on Monday also approved changing the color of Libyan passports from green, symbolic of Gadhafi’s rule, to dark blue.

via Libya to send 2,500 ex-rebels for police training in Jordan, Turkey in 1st stage – The Washington Post.

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey and Libya are assessing losses incurred by Turkish construction companies during the anti-Gadhafi uprising as well as discussing their return to the country.

Erdogan also said Saturday that Turkey would support efforts to restore security in Libya, saying the country was sending material to equip police and that a security delegation would travel there next month.

Erdogan was speaking at a news conference with the visiting chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.

Turkish companies were involved in Libyan construction projects worth billions of dollars before the outbreak of the anti-Gadhafi uprising in February.

via Turkey, Libya discuss Turkish companies’ return – Boston.com.

SUZAN FRASER

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey will seek support for a “road map” to help end the Libyan crisis when countries backing NATO’s military mission gather in Istanbul to ratchet up the pressure on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Turkey’s foreign ministry said Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and some 40 other members of the so-called Contact Group on Libya will hold their fourth meeting on Friday to support a post-Gadhafi era, boost support to the Libyan main opposition group and plot steps for a political transition.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said Thursday nations participating in the fourth Contact Group meeting were expected to discuss a Turkish proposal to end the Libyan crisis despite Gadhafi’s refusal to stand down, and to set the stage for a democratic transition. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the ministry’s rule, would not provide details of what Turkey was bringing to the table.

In April, Turkey proposed a peace plan for Libya calling for an immediate cease-fire, the protection of civilians and a democratic transition in the country.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said he couldn’t give details of the plan, but said it was built on the previous proposal.

“It’s an evolving paper,” he said.

NATO has been bombing Gadhafi’s forces and military sites to enforce a U.N. resolution to protect civilians. Still, the civil war has fallen into a virtual stalemate, with neither side able to make significant progress in recent weeks.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday dismissed Libyan claims that the alliance’s air strikes campaign has killed more than 1,100 people, saying the bloc has “no confirmed information” about possible civilian casualties.

Clinton warned Gadhafi late Wednesday that his days in power are numbered and that the international community will be stepping up pressure on him to leave.

Libyan rebels have enlarged the area under their control in the west and inched closer to a key supply route to the capital Tripoli.

U.S. officials say pressure appears to be building against Gadhafi’s regime after months of apparent stalemate. They point at three key indicators: dwindling fuel supplies, a cash crisis and reports of low morale among regime troops. Gadhafi is also facing a cash crisis after Turkey cut off his access, on July 4, to hundreds of millions in Libyan funds held in a Turkish-Libyan bank, they say.

The assessment comes as French authorities describe overtures from Libyan emissaries reportedly seeking sanctuary for the Libyan leader, who has survived sustained bombing by NATO war planes and U.S. armed drones since mid-March. Clinton said Gadhafi associates were sending mixed messages about whether he would be willing to step down.

“Gadhafi is a Libyan citizen, Tripoli is his home, talk of him leaving is silly,” said Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi in Tripoli on Thursday in response to a question about French reports that Gadhafi might be ready to step down. “Gadhafi’s stay in Libya is eternal and no one can discuss it.”

Many of the Contact Group nations have formalized ties with Libya’s opposition Transitional National Council and provide it with financial assistance. At a meeting in the United Arab Emirates last month, the international contact group pledged more than $1.3 billion to help support the council.

Italy said Wednesday a the shift among some African leaders to discuss a Libya without Gadhafi was a significant development that should help spur a political resolution to the conflict.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari said Wednesday there was now a “convergence” with the African Union about negotiating a post-Gadhafi Libya.

____

Associated Press writer Paul Schemm in Tripoli contributed to this report.

via Libya Crisis ‘Road Map’ Proposed By Turkey.