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Turkey to train Libyan military, NTC's Abdul Jalil says
Abdul Jalil spoke to Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency on Wednesday and commented on his recent visit to Turkey last week as well as the cooperation between Turkey and the new Libyan administration in the post-Gaddafi era.
Noting that he had the chance to visit dozens of Libyans who were injured in clashes with Gaddafi loyalists and have received treatment in Turkey, he said he also wishes Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who underwent an abdominal surgery last month, a speedy recovery.
“We had the opportunity to discuss some issues with Prime Minister Erdoğan. We reached a compromise on training the Libyan army in Turkey. Meanwhile, we are going ahead with our efforts to transition to a regular army. These efforts, carried out under the leadership of our Defense Minister Osama al-Juwali, will be announced to the public next week,” Abdel Jalil told Anatolia.
Commenting on the situation of Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi who was captured on Nov. 19, Jalil said he will stand trial in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. He added that all soldiers who were Gadafi loyalists and were currently in prison would be released.
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize the NTC as the sole representative of the Libyan people, after NTC forces entered Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli in late August and stormed the symbolic center of his more than 40-year reign. On Sept. 4, Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydın became the first foreign ambassador to be approved by the NTC and resume diplomatic work in Tripoli.
Erdoğan was among the first senior foreign leaders to visit Libya after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, at the end of a three-nation tour including Egypt and Tunisia. He visited Libya in September and addressed a huge crowd of Libyan people.
Turkey has also granted the Libyan opposition $100 million in aid and promised an additional $200 million. Some of the money is to be used to improve the infrastructure of Benghazi and rehabilitate its airport.
Back in September, footage and photography provided by the İstanbul-based Cihan news agency showed that members of the Libyan opposition military forces were trained by retired special ops officers who arrived to the conflict-ridden country from Turkey.
The images show retired special ops officers training the troops of the NTC on how to use arms, provide security, search vehicles, buildings and people, and protect state authorities. The training mostly took place in Benghazi.
Commander Mustafa al-Majbri, who is responsible for communication in the NTC, and Commander Ibrahim al-Brigti, were pleased with the training by former Turkish special ops officers in Benghazi. Around 3,000 members of the Libyan opposition's military force, including those who are in volunteer groups affiliated with the al-Majbri tribe, were reportedly trained by the Turks.
In early April, the ferry Ankara, which set sail from the Aegean city of İzmir for Misrata on March 27, arrived at the İzmir port of Çeşme after rescuing hundreds of wounded Libyans and their families from the besieged Libyan cities of Misrata and Benghazi.
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