By Abdul-Jalil Mustafa.
Amman 31 May:
A medical cooperation agreement was signed today, Thursday, between Jordan’s Royal Medical Services (RMS) and the Libyan . . .[restrict]Central Medical Committee, according to an official statement issued here.
The accord provides for the treatment of Libyan patients and the training of Libyan medical staff at the RMS hospitals.
The agreement was signed by the RMS Director General Dr. Abdul Aziz Ziyadat and head of the Libyan Central Medical Committee for the southern province (Sebha) Dr. Rihab Hussein Bashir.
The agreement allows the treatment of Libyan patients at the RMS hospitals which is attached to the Jordanian Armed Forces.
The treatment of Libyan patients was until now confined to Jordanian private hospitals.
Tens of thousands of Libyan patients, mostly ex-revolutionaries, were treated at such hospitals since the ouster of the Qaddafi regime eight months ago.
Also on Thursday, the Jordanian foreign ministry met with members of a panel established recently by private hospitals and hotels for following up the payment of about $200 million which they say are still unpaid for the treatment and hosting of more than 50,000 Libyan patients and their families in Jordan.
The panel, called the Preparatory Committee for Affected People as a Result of the Delay in Paying Libyan Debts, presented their claims in writing to the Foreign Ministry.
The panel was told that the issue was taken up on Thursday by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh with his Libyan counterpart Ashour Ben Khayal during a meeting that was held on the fringes of the 5th China Arab Forum currently being held in Tunis, the official Petra news agency said.
The two ministers discussed ways to ensure ”the speedy settlement of the overdue payments relating to the treatment and stay of the Libyan patients within the framework of the special relationship that exists between the two countries”, it added.
According to local reports, some hotels have recently asked Libyans to check out due to the failure to pay costs of their stay at the hotels.
A number of Libyans and owners of Jordanian hotels also reportedly demonstrated in front of the Libyan embassy to protest failure of the Libyan governments to pay the overdue bills. [/restrict]
