His Excellency Mr. Ali Zeidan, Prime Minister of Libya, met French Foreign Minister Fabius, Italian Foreign Minister Bonino, German Foreign Minister Westerwelle, US Deputy Secretary Burns, and UK Foreign Secretary Hague in New York on 26 September to take stock of progress since discussions at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne in June.
Prime Minister Zeidan spoke of the current political, security and economic situation in Libya and reaffirmed the commitment of his government to create accountable and effective security institutions to safeguard public security and preserve the hard fought freedoms the people of Libya brought about through the revolution.
Prime Minister Zeidan also raised the importance of international assistance in tackling the threat posed by the proliferation of arms and ammunitions as a result of decades of excessive stockpiling by the previous regime.
In response, the Foreign Ministers of the UK, France, Germany and Italy and the Deputy Secretary of the US pledged to continue to provide the necessary training and assistance to help train Libyan armed forces, to support Libya’s other security and justice priorities, including arms and ammunition management as well as border control and the fight against terrorism, and to seek opportunities to support Libya’s democratically elected General National Congress and government to improve their capacity to demonstrate effectiveness and responsiveness to the Libyan people.
Prime Minister Zeidan, the Foreign Ministers, and Deputy Secretary also agreed on the importance of an effective national dialogue during the development of a new constitution as an essential part of Libya’s democratic transition.
(Source: UK FCO)
