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Tripoli, 27 June:
EU election monitors are to be joined by scrutineers from the Jimmy Carter Center, though because of security concerns . . .[restrict]the former US president’s election-watchers will not mount a Libya-wide operation.
The Carter Center, which established an office in Tripoli earlier this month, is bringing in monitors from Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, Iraq, Sudan, the United States and Yemen. They will be supported by administration and legal experts at the centre’s office in the capital.
The Carter Center has been election-watching since it was established in 1982. It was granted permission last month to monitor the electoral process here, and its presence has been encouraged by both the NTC and the interim government.
“The Carter Center welcomes the opportunity to observe these historic elections, the first in Libya in almost 50 years,” said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. “We hope that our presence will contribute to a peaceful, transparent and credible electoral process, and will support Libyans’ aspirations to build a strong democracy.”
It was not clear this evening how many monitors would be coming from Carter’s foundation. The EU has sent 21 officials to observe the run-up to the election, the actual vote itself and subsequent counting of ballot papers.
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