Start of workshop in Spain on disarmament, demobilisation and integration of combatants in Libya
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A workshop on the disarmament, demobilization and integration of combatants in Libya started on Monday in the city of Toledo in central Spain, an official source told PANA here.
The workshop: "Methods of international support for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme for Libya and the are attending the worksUnited Nations Support Mission in Libya" opened today in Toledo and is jointly organized by the Toledo Peace Institute, the Spanish embassy said.
"Spain is involved in the stabilization of Libya and the security of the southern flank," the diplomatic mission added in a tweet.
The vice president of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdallah al-Lafi, the Interior minister, General Khaled Mazen, the chief of the general staff of the Libyan Army of the Government of National Unity, General Mohamed al-Haddad, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, and the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Libya, Jose Sabadell, in addition to other personalities and officials interested in the subject are attending the workshop.
The Spanish minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, tweeted: "Today I inaugurated the workshop +Modalities of international support for a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme for Libya and UNSMIL, in Toledo, which we organized with CITPax."
He reaffirmed that "Spain is involved in the stabilization of Libya and the security of the southern flank of the Mediterranean".
Sabadell wrote in a tweet: "Listening to Libyan actors in Toledo on how international partners can support the DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) programme in Libya and UNSMIL".
"The Vice President of the Council, the minister of Interior, minister of Labour, Chief of Cabinet, 5+5 (5+5 Joint Military Commission ) and many other Libyan actors will define the way forward," he added, expressing "thanks to the Spanish Embassy in Libya".
After eight months of armed clashes in the wake of the 17 February 2011 revolution that toppled the former regime of the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been plunged into security chaos.
This has been fuelled by the proliferation of weapons from the warehouses of Gaddafi's brigades and from foreign countries in violation of the UN embargo.
The Berlin International Conference on Libya recommended the respect of the embargo and the establishment of a programme of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants to be implemented by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) with the support of international partners such as the United States and the European Union.
Benefiting from millions of dinars in state funding, armed groups are accused by Libyans of contributing to the instability of the country and fuelling insecurity.
This situation has led some to believe that the organization of general elections, to which all current efforts are directed, will be in vain as long as the issue of armed groups has not been resolved.
-0- PANA BY/IS/SOC/BBA/RA 23May2022
