Turkey agrees to train the new Libyan army

The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council has said that Turkey will train Libyan army personnel during the transitional period. Mustafa Abdul Jalil said that agreement has been reached on this issue with Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We will be training the Libyan army in Turkey,” he said, “and are going ahead with our efforts to develop a regular army.” Such efforts, added Abdul Jalil, will be led by Defence Minister Osama al-Juwali. The details will be announced next week.

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Turkey’s official news agency quoted Mr al-Juwali as saying that Tripoli had asked for the assistance of the Turkish Armed Forces so that Libya can benefit from Turkey’s experience in military matters.