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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 14 June 2021:
Libya’s Interior Minister Khaled Mazen met Britain’s Minister of Defence Ben Wallace and Minister of State for Middle East and African Affairs James Claverly, at the Ministry’s office in Tripoli Thursday.
The Interior Ministry reported that the British Ministers offered their condolences to Minister Mazen for the terrorist bomb at the security checkpoint in Sebha last week which led to the death of two and the injury of others. They also appreciated the efforts made by Minister in his work to secure the upcoming elections.
For his part, Minister Mazen welcomed the guests and stressed that Libya will be a stable country with the efforts of the Ministry of Interior and the Government of National Unity with the help of friendly countries to achieve this goal.
Mazen explained that Libya is a vast country that enjoys an important strategic location, which calls for the need to support stability, noting that one of the priorities of the Ministry of Interior is to follow up on the file of illegal immigration and human trafficking, saying ‘‘We look forward to a partnership with the United Kingdom to curb this phenomenon, which has affected it. Also due to the influx of immigrants and the presence of a large number of them in the United Kingdom’’.
Minister Mazen also reviewed the situation that Libya is going through as a result of the phenomenon of immigration and the presence of large numbers of immigrants inside Libya which have reached about 700,000 illegal immigrants, and the presence of security, economic and political challenges facing the country. This requires the support of Libya by European countries as Libya suffers great harm as a result and since Libya is not a country of destination for them but a country of transit towards European countries.
The Minister also expressed the Ministry of Interior’s aspiration to obtain technical support in the fight against terrorism, drugs, human trafficking and illegal immigration, explaining that this support will be for by the General Administration of Desert Patrols to control security in the desert and borders, which will be implemented within the framework of international agreements that have been agreed upon with Europe and the European Union Commission.
For his part, the Minister of State for Middle East and African Affairs, James Cleverly, stated that the international community has a real desire for the stability of Libya and to push for the elections that it will witness in order to bring the country to safety.
Defence Minister Ben Wallace also indicated that work is underway to coordinate training programmes in the field of combating terrorism and illegal immigration, adding that Europe and the United Kingdom have been affected by illegal immigration and that combating it is a joint responsibility.
