Tripoli, April 1: The Libyan Ministry of Defense has announced more than eight thousand revolutionaries (thuwar) have been registered to be trained . . .[restrict]as border and vital strategic locations protection guards, especially of oil installations facilities.
The Deputy Defence Minister, Sadiq Al-Obeidi, said during the signing of the agreement recruiting the men and enlisting them on a six-week training program that they come from all over Libya and that many of them are from areas close to oil fields which they had already been protecting in recent months.
The agreement on the 8,055 forms part of the authorities’ to re-integrate the revolutionaries, estimated in total around 200,000, into civil society. It was signed by the Veterans Committee for Rehabilitation and Development.
Under it, any of the men unable to pass the entry exams to work in the border guards and vital installations must be returned to the veterans committee.
It is expected that around 50,000 of the thuwar will join the Interior and Defence Ministries while others will get financial assistance to start their own special projects or further their education. The official in charge of ex-fighters affairs confirmed that public institutions can only be established through integrating rebels into them.
The Ministry of Defence will prepare a budget for the training and rehabilitation program and the costs of recruiting the thuwar into the border guards and the vital installation facilities.
Only the Veterans Affairs Committee for Rehabilitation and Development is authorised to incorporate the rebels in the various sectors of the state including the Interior and Defence sectors. [/restrict]