By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 16 February 2017:
Presidency Council (PC) head Faiez Serraj has sent a formal request to NATO to help in building up security and defence systems, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO had agreed to send help at its Warsaw summit a week ago, but only if formally requested by the UN-backed PC. Now that such a request had been received, Stoltenberg said the organisation would discuss how to respond. However, he did not say what sort of help Serraj had requested.
Serraj had invited NATO forces to play a stronger role against smuggling in the Mediterranean some weeks ago, but military assistance on the ground in Libya was off the table.
NATO has been involved in counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling operations, and is fully involved alongside the EU in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
