Libya: Syria’s Foreign Minister co-operation meeting in Tripoli
Foreign Minister of Syria
According to The National News and the official Libyan News Agency, on the 30th of August, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani, during his visit to the embassy in Tripoli, spoke about economic cooperation between Damascus and Libya.
In addition to being his last stop in the North African countries, this was a historic day because the Minister presided over the Syrian embassy’s reopening in the Libyan capital for the first time in 14 years.
During a meeting with the Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, he said that strengthening economic cooperation, in investments and trade, is one of the most important steps for collaboration with Libya. The main focus was on expanding the partnership’s areas between these two important regions.
During the same day, the Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army, Salah Al Din Al Namroush, was having a meeting in Ankara with the Turkish general Selcuk Bayraktaroglu; indeed, both Libya and Syria share Turkey’s support, which is still trying to increase its influence in the Mediterranean region.
Al Shibani also met the Libyan Oil Minister Khalifa Abdulsadek and the Libyan Investment Authority President Mahmoud Hassan during the same trip, always discussing the same topics previously exposed.
After the civil war, Syrian oil production dropped frighteningly from 350,000 barrels per day in 2010 to 85,000 now. Libyan production is way higher, reaching 1.4 million barrels per day, but still lower than the level reached under the Gaddafi regime.
The Syrian government of Ahmad Al Shara is trying to enrich its presence in international trade, establishing commercial relationships also with countries that supported the Assad regime in the past.
In June, the Foreign Minister also visited Algeria, where he discussed improving bilateral relations with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. This journey happened after his previous trip to Egypt, where, during a meeting with the Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, he spoke about the problem of dismantling the Syrian security apparatus after the fall of Al Assad in 2011.
The National News/Libyan News Agency
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