Brasília – In an effort to establish closer ties between Brazil and Libya, the Brazilian government decided to make donations, send specialists and support the conduction of elections for the parliament within two months in the country. Brazilian specialists who will work in demining (the removal of landmines) will head for Tripoli, the Libyan capital, in the next few days. Technicians in weapon identification will also be sent to the country, as well as donations of antiretroviral medication to fight AIDS.
In the last few days, the deputy prime minister of Libya, Omar Abdelkarim, spoke with president Dilma Rousseff and the minister of Foreign Relations, Antonio Patriota, and with representatives, in an attempt to garner support for the reconstruction of the country. During the talks, he said the priority of the National Transitional Council (NTC), which controls the provisional government, is stabilizing and reorganizing the country.
On the Brazilian side, according to advisors who attended the meetings, Abdelkarim was informed that the demining specialists are Armed Forces experts who have operated in Angola (Africa) and in the Peru-Ecuador border. The deputy prime minister was also told that specialists will go to Libya to help identify weapons.
The experts are intended to help the process of weapon proliferation control. In 2003, during the administration of former president Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has announced an anti-weapon proliferation program.
The deputy prime minister was also informed by the Brazilian authorities that a medication shipment worth 1.2 million reals (US$ 643,000) is already in Tripoli. The medicine was purchased jointly by Brazilian companies operating in Libya – Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez and Queiroz Galvão.
The parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 23, and the deputy prime minister called on support from Brazilian representatives. Representative Adrian Mousi (PMDB-RJ) has offered to cooperate with the elections for the Libyan Constituent Assembly, in which 200 representatives will be chosen.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
