Intelligence conference outcomes before the House Presidency
LIBYA – House of Representatives Speaker Salehin Abdulnabi Al-Obaidi has received the head of the Libyan Intelligence Service, Gen Hussein Mohammed Al-Ayeb, at his office in Benghazi, accompanied by the service’s deputy head for southern Libya, Maj Gen Nabil Al-Sheikh, to review the results of the high-level regional meeting of heads of intelligence, security and counter-terrorism agencies.
Report on 43 delegations at Benghazi conference
The Libyan Intelligence Service’s media office said the meeting was held in Benghazi on 22 and 23 October under the slogan “Countering the Nexus Between Terrorism and Organised Crime in Africa”. Al-Ayeb handed the Speaker a comprehensive preliminary report on the outcomes of the conference, which was organised in partnership between the Libyan Intelligence Service and Morocco’s General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED), in cooperation with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and the regional Marrakech Platform.
The report covered the conference’s sessions and deliberations, in which 43 security and intelligence delegations from various countries took part, alongside a high-level UN delegation and the General Command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, represented by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lt Gen Saddam Haftar.
Lt Gen Saddam Haftar affirms support for the Intelligence Service
During the meeting, Lt Gen Saddam Haftar praised the work of the Libyan Intelligence Service, stressing the armed forces’ pivotal role in combating terrorism and cross-border crime and calling for the service to be supported and kept out of political bickering, as a national technical institution with a special character. He affirmed the General Command’s backing for the service, welcomed the guests of Benghazi and Libya, and wished the conference success.
Initiatives to combat illicit financing and smuggling
The report included national initiatives put forward by Libya, among them a strategic project to combat illicit financing based on modern systems for sharing information between intelligence services, and a proposal to set up a regional rapid-response network for cross-border threats and the overlap between terrorist groups and smuggling and organised crime networks in the Sahel and West Africa.
Al-Ayeb confirmed that the final report and the technical committees’ recommendations would be referred to the House of Representatives as soon as they have been drafted and approved.
Security in the south, borders and irregular migration
The meeting also addressed security developments in southern Libya, strengthening stability, securing the vast southern borders, and combating smuggling, cross-border crime and irregular migration, in support of national sovereignty and national security.
Speaker Salehin Abdulnabi praised the Intelligence Service’s efforts and the successful hosting of the conference in Benghazi, affirming the House’s support for national initiatives and for regional and international cooperation to strengthen Libya’s security and Africa’s stability.
