Libya looks forward to resuming air traffic with Italy and broadening bilateral energy and investment cooperation, Interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said on Tuesday
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2021) Libya looks forward to resuming air traffic with Italy and broadening bilateral energy and investment cooperation, Interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said on Tuesday.
Interim Prime Minister Dbeibah is meeting today with Italy's Mario Draghi and Greece's Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The two European prime ministers are the latest EU leaders to visit Libya since the transitional Government of National Unity (GNU) was handed office last month.
"We look forward to the opening of Italy's airspace for Libyan aircraft and the strengthening of a customs agreement ... I expect that the energy cooperation will expand," Dbeibah told a press conference in the Libyan capital following talks with his Italian counterpart.
Libya also has an interest in investment cooperation with Italy and the resolution of common issues, including illegal immigration, according to Dbeibah.
The Italian prime minister, in turn, whose trip to Libya is his first official foreign visit in that capacity, added that a nationwide ceasefire and the monitoring of its implementation is "the main condition for progress in Libya." Rome looks forward to resuming bilateral cultural exchange, Draghi reaffirmed, noting that the immigration issue consists "not only of a geopolitical, but also a humanitarian aspect."
Last fall, Libyan rivals held UN-facilitated talks in Geneva, which resulted in the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement. In early February, the Swiss-hosted round of intra-Libyan talks led to the election of an interim GNU that will be in charge until the national general election scheduled for December 24.
In March, the Libyan parliament approved the composition of the GNU. The 26-strong cabinet is said to be free of those who served in Libya's previous governments.
On April 5, Libyan Presidential Council Head Mohammad Younes Menfi announced the creation of the High National Reconciliation Commission.
