Libya's Interior Minister wants to absorb pro-GNA combatants into mainstream force
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Saying that he has drawn from experiences of some countries that have experienced civil wars, the Libyan Interior Minister, Fathi Bachagha, on Tuesday announced his intention to integrate combatant members of the forces supporting the government of national Accord (GNA) into the regular bodies and organs of the Ministry of Interior.
Bachagha unveiled his plan at a meeting on Tuesday in Tripoli of several senior officials, including Colonel Khaled Mazen, Deputy Interior Minister, the Assistant to the Deputy Minister for Security Affairs, General Mohamed al-Madaghi, a number of heads of departments at hia Ministry, the Deputy Minister of Defence and the Chief of Staff of the forces of the GNA.
Bachagha presented the initiative at the meeting to discuss a mechanism to receive and integrate the combatants loyal to the government, who are fighting within the axes and fronts south of the capital, Tripoli, and in the surrounding areas.
During the meeting, the Interior Minister reviewed the experiences of a number of countries in the world during their civil wars, stressing that "they were able to absorb chaos and combatants into the institutions of the state according to national reconciliation and studied plans that positively influenced the sovereignty of the state with its army and security," according to a statement published on the website of the Interior Ministry.
Mr. Bachagha expressed "his joy at this meeting which will organize and develop a program for the support forces and their involvement in state institutions after the end of the war", stressing that the Ministries of Defense and Interior "bear the greatest burden in the involvement and absorption of these forces within their frameworks with the need to provide financial support to state institutions in this regard".
He also affirmed the willingness of the Interior Ministry to cooperate with the Defence Ministry in this respect, stressing that committees from both ministries have been studying this issue for almost a year.
The Libyan official also acknowledged that there are a military and security vacuum in most areas around the capital, hence the need to fill it.
"The time has come to build up the state's security and defense institutions, and this only comes with the recovery of the national economy and the allocation of funds for state military and security projects".
-0- PANA BY/BEH/MTA/VAO 2June2020
