Libya requests NATO help to rebuild security institutions

Published February 16, 2017

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. Germany on Thursday signed a series of agreements with its NATO partners to jointly buy transport aircraft and submarines and develop new weapons. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

NATO's chief says he has received a formal request from conflict-torn Libya to help strengthen its security institutions and that the alliance is looking into exactly what can be done.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the 28 allies could help build up the Libyan defense ministry and military command structure.

He told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that "Libya needs that framework to be able to develop the forces and stabilize the country."

Stoltenberg didn't say when the effort might start or what exactly it might entail.

NATO currently has a naval operation in the Mediterranean outside Libyan waters working on counterterrorism and assisting the European Union in its efforts to monitor and rescue migrants.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/libya-requests-nato-help-to-rebuild-security-institutions