Tripoli, 20 September 2013:
The stability of the wider North Africa and Sahel regions will help the security situation in Libya, according . . .[restrict]to UK Special Envoy to the Sahel, Stephen O’Brien.
“The countries of North and West Africa are inextricably linked and it’s clear that the issue of the Sahel impacts upon Libya in a variety of ways,” O’Brien said: “The security and prosperity of Libya is, in part, dependent on the stability of the wider region.”
He added that good regional cooperation was essential for Libya to develop into a stable, secure and prosperous country.
O’Brien was speaking on a two-day visit to explore the links between the Sahel region – an area between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanian Savanna, spanning the width of Africa – and Libya.
He met with the Minister of Defence, Abdullah Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and acting Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sidiq Abdelkarim, as well as senior military figures and representatives from UN and EU missions in Libya. “I’m delighted to have had the chance to explore the political, economic and cultural links between Libya and the Sahel region,” O’Brien said. [/restrict]
