Libya seeks Egyptian cooperation in security, education sectors

Visiting members of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) asked for Egyptian cooperation in the field of security amidst the turbulent security situation in Libya following the rebel NTC's successful ending of the over 42-year rule of Mouammar Kadhafi. The NTC, which has been recognized by Egypt as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people, has also hinted it may officially ask for security assistance from Arab and Islamic states in order to bring about stability in the war-torn nation, where arms are spread across every corner of the country, in the hands of rebels, pro-Kadhafi people and even politically neutral citizens.

The NTC has also asked to recruit Egyptian teachers before the start of the new school year in Libya.

NTC members who wrapped up a two-day visit to Cairo on Sunday, where they got the full backing of the Arab League as well, also expressed the wish to benefit from Egypt’s legislative experience in the upcoming period, as Libya seeks to write a new constitution in its transitional post-Kadhafi period.

Egyptian officials, for their part, expressed optimism regarding the developments in Libya and the future of Egyptian-Libyan relations following the fall of Kadhafi, whose whereabouts is yet unknown and signalled hope that the hundreds of thousands of Egyptian workers in Libya who had to flee the country during the civil war will soon return.

Before the Libyan uprising, Egypt had an estimated 1.5 million people working in Libya, a sensitive issue that played as the major factor behind Egypt's relative late recognition of the NTC, due to the fact many Egyptians were threatened to lose their jobs, let alone their lives by the defunct Kadhafi regime, had the recognition been sooner in the view of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in Egypt.

Egypt had assisted the rebels mainly through humanitarian aid via its western border with Libya.