Tripoli based Libyan Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, Abdel Hamid Aldabaiba, attended the opening of the 2026 Military Intelligence Chiefs Conference for the Sahel and Mediterranean countries, held in Tripoli today.
Also present were Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence, Major General Abdul Salam Al-Zoubi, and Acting Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Salah Al-Din Al-Namroush. The conference was organized by the Director of Military Intelligence, Major General Mahmoud Hamza, and saw broad participation from regional and international security and military leaders.
Security challenges have become transnational and interconnected
In his address, the Prime Minister emphasized that the conference was taking place amidst rapid transformations in the region, where security challenges have become transnational and interconnected. He noted that the Sahel and Mediterranean region is among the most affected by these changes, given the rise of organized crime networks, irregular migration, and the threat of terrorism.
Security is a collective responsibility
Aldabaiba stressed that security is no longer an individual responsibility but a collective one. He emphasized the importance of timely information sharing and building trust among security agencies, as well as the necessity of moving from diagnosis to action, and from reactive to proactive measures to counter the growing threats.
Need to move from coordination to genuine intelligence integration
In his address, Major General Mahmoud Hamza, Director of Military Intelligence, stated that Libya’s southern borders have become open conduits for various threats, from arms smuggling to terrorism. He emphasized the need to move from mere coordination to genuine intelligence integration and to work towards building a unified system capable of proactive measures rather than simply reacting to threats.
Hamza added that Libya refuses to be an arena for settling scores or a stage for others’ conflicts, reiterating its rejection of any attempts to drag the country into new conflicts or transform its territory and coastlines into platforms for foreign wars.
The conference featured speeches from several participating countries, including Turkey, Sudan, Malta, Niger, Greece, Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, and Tunisia. The speeches focused on ways to enhance security and intelligence cooperation to confront shared threats.
