Tripoli, 27 April:
In a press conference held at the Prime Minister’s office on Wednesday, Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelal said that locally-based . . .[restrict]training is something essential and it is therefore important that trainees pass their Libya-based training sessions in order to have the opportunity of training abroad.
He added that thuwar who have high academic qualifications will be given an opportunity to engage in training sessions which will be announced soon after the completion of the Faculty and Higher Institute of Police Officers in Tripoli.
Minister Abdel-Aal added that the Interior Ministry started the provision of its required vehicles, which will be distributed all over Libya, confirming that the first consignment will be sent to Sabha as of Tuesday and thereon to all areas of the south.
The Minister explained that after supplying the south, the Ministry will move on to supplying the eastern region and then the far west and then back to the center of Libya.
He stressed that providing all needed supplies, such as vehicles, clothing and weapons to the police will be finalized over the next two months at the most.
Abdul-Aal indicated that his Interior Ministry has done all the work required in order to pay the thuwar their salaries. He went on to reveal that almost 70,000 have joined the Interior Ministry to date, and that such a huge number requires major efforts on every level – administrative and technical – in order to enter their data into the Ministry’s database.
The Minister also stated that the misunderstanding in respect of the decision of the NTC to temporally stop bonuses being paid to thuwar by the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has been resolved.
The CBL, he explained, was under the wrong impression that the decision to cease payments applied to monthly salaries, as opposed to bonuses, which in turn caused two weeks’ delay in the payment of salaries.
However, the Interior Ministry has since amended the situation, he explained, giving his assurances that this issue will resolved as soon as possible and within ten days at the latest.
He went on to call on all the thuwar working at the Ministry of Interior to open personal bank accounts at one of the commercial banks as soon as possible. He explained that the Ministry of Interior only agreed to pay the thuwar their salaries in cash as a temporary measure and that in the months to come their salaries will only be paid through their bank accounts. [/restrict]
