Libya seeks help to restore security

LONDON: Libya’s prime minister on Tuesday appealed to the outside world to help restore security, as it combats political chaos and tries to restart oil exports, crippled by protesters at a cost of $130 million a day in lost income.
Ali Zeidan met with his British counterpart David Cameron, who two years ago was a driving force behind a Western military campaign that helped topple Muammar Qaddafi and aimed to encourage a stable democracy in Libya.
That has yet to emerge. A combination of strikes, militias and political activists have blocked the majority of Libya’s oilfields and ports since end July but the government’s fledging army and police force are ill-equipped to deal with armed protesters.
“If the international community does not help in the collection of arms and ammunition, if we don’t get help in forming the army and the police, things are going to take very long,” Zeidan said at a Libya investment conference in London.
“The situation is not going to improve unless we get real and practical assistance.”
Zeidan insisted that he still wanted to solve the crisis through dialogue rather than force.
“We are going to work on solving this problem,” he said. “When blood is shed, the loss will be greater.”
Tripoli has had some success with the restart of its biggest south-western oilfield on Monday but the bulk of oil production in the east is still paralyzed.
The General National Congress’ crisis committee negotiated a deal with an armed group to allow the resumption of the El Sharara oilfield, which is expected to reach full capacity by Friday.
But Western oil companies, which jostled for the chance to join Libya’s oil sector revival after the fall of Qaddafi, are losing faith.