Libya seeks Italian help for satellite system for borders

        
Libya will build a satellite surveillance system with Italian expertise to help secure its borders, its defence minister said, part of Tripoli's plans to stem the flow of Islamist militants and illegal immigrants.          

Western powers worry that the sprawling North African state has become a safe haven for al Qaeda fighters as its government struggles to rein in militias and former rebels who helped topple longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi two years ago.        

Weak border controls and a small army lacking training and equipment have turned Libya into a weapons smuggling route for al Qaeda in sub-Saharan countries and also a transit corridor for Islamist fighters heading to Syria's war.          

Human traffickers also smuggle refugees over the remote desert borders with Egypt, Sudan or Chad into Libya from where they try reach Italy by boat. Hundreds died in the past two months on their way to Lampedusa, an island south of Sicily.        

Defence Minister Abdullah al-Thini told Reuters Libya had contracted an Italian company to start setting up from December a satellite-based surveillance system to monitor the border from the Mediterranean coast to the sub-Saharan boundaries.         

"It will cover the whole border. From the end of 2014 the southern border will be sealed. The crossing points and weak spots will be closed with the help of satellites," he said this week, without giving technical details or the project's cost.          

"We will spot any infiltration or approaching vehicle," Thini said in an interview.            

Libya was also turning to Saudi Arabia to benefit from the kingdom's experience controlling the flow of Islamists or illegal workers over its desert border with impoverished Yemen.           

"We will cooperate with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said. "Their geographic conditions are similar to Libya."              

Libyan officials had also recently travelled to Sudan, Chad and Egypt to strengthen border security cooperation. "I'm just out of a meeting with the defence minister from Niger to discuss border security," he said.        

This as, oil workers, civil servants and private sector staff went on strike in the Libyan port city of Benghazi on Tuesday, protesting against deteriorating security a day after deadly clashes there between the army and Islamist militants.            

Schools, universities and many shops and businesses also shut down at the start of the three-day strike.         

Organisers said they wanted all militias to leave Libya's second city. "Staff in the oil sector in Benghazi ... will join the civil obedience starting today," said Saad Fakhri, deputy head of Libya's union of oil workers.           


REUTERS