By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 16 April 2015:
China says it will train . . .[restrict]150 Libyan police officers and provide substantial food and medical aid to Libya. The offer was made following a meeting between Deputy Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Sagheer, and his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Ming, on the sidelines this week of the 54th Annual Session of the Asian African Legal Consultative Organization in Beijing.
The two are said to have discussed ways the international community could support the Libyan government in the fight against terrorism and its efforts to establish control over all of its territory. Ming re-stated Beiujing’s’s support for the legitimacy of the House of Representatives and Thinni’s government but pointed out that China believes the ultimate solution for Libya is political reconciliation.
The two are also said to have discussed a shared desire to “reform” the UN Security Council. No details of what that means were given.
The presence of the Sager in China, while the the Foreign Minister, Mohamed Dairi, is in Moscow with the Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni, reflects the government’s move to strengthen ties with the two countries. It is looking for their support in the UN Security Council, in particular in persuading it to lift the arms embargo. Thinni himself, in a meeting yesterday in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, called on both Russia and China to support his government by ensuring the weapons ban is lifted in order for his government to be able to fight terrorists.
Thinni met last month in Tunis with China’s ambassador to Libya, to discus closer relations.