World

World Powers Are ‘Ready’ to Arm Libyan Gov’t

Monday, May 16, 2016 11:04 am | < 1 Minute Read

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , center, , Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni , left, and U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler attend the ministerial meeting on Libya in Vienna, Austria, Monday May 16, 2016. (Leonhard Foeger/Pool Photo via AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, (C), Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, (L), and U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler attend the ministerial meeting on Libya in Vienna, Austria, Monday. (Leonhard Foeger/Pool Photo via AP)

The United States and other world powers say they are ready to supply Libya’s internationally recognized government with weapons to counter the Islamic State terror group and other terrorists, and will push for exemptions to an arms embargo imposed on the country.

The decision is stated in a communique prepared for the end of top-level talks on Libya and obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its release.

Libya is under a U.N. embargo imposed to keep lethal arms away from terrorists and rival militias vying for power. But the communique signed by the U.S., the four other permanent U.N. Security Council members, and the more than 15 other nations participating at the talks, states that they are “ready to respond to the Libyan government’s requests for training and equipping” government forces.

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