By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 9 May 2016:
It makes no sense for the international community to urge Libya to tackle terrorism but . . .[restrict]at same deny it the weapons with which to do so, prime minister-designate Faieze Serraj has said.
Serraj returned today from a Cairo meeting of the Arab League where he urged both the ending of the UN arms embargo and the lifting of its freeze on Libya assets.
The Associated Press reported that Serraj protested to the League: “It doesn’t make sense that the international community supports our war against terrorism, and forbids us from arming ourselves.”
At an earlier meeting with Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi Serraj had been told that Egypt continued to support the end of the arms embargo. Sissi is also understood to have wished Serraj success and said he would continue to support the Libyan army. Cairo has long backed the Libyan National Army and had close ties with Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Khalifa Hafter.
Serraj was travelling with deputy prime minister-designate Ahmed Maetig, who was said by Russian media today, to be calling for Moscow’s help against terrorists. According to Sputnik, Maetig argued that historically, Libya had had strong ties with Russia. “The majority of Libya’s officers have studied in Russia. That’s why we always call for Russia’s role in the struggle against terrorism in Libya and the creation of strong army”. [/restrict]
