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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 5 March 2013:
At a handing-over ceremony on Sunday (3rd March), the Korean government presented Libya’s Ministry of Martyrs . . .[restrict]and Missing Persons Affairs tools, equipment and vehicles to help search and identify missing persons as a result of the 17th February Revolution conflict.
The ceremony took place at a site in the Beer Osta Milad area of Tripoli. The delegation included two Deputy Ministers from the Ministry of Martyrs and Missing Persons Affairs, the Korean Ambassador, Lee Jong-kook and members of the Korean delegation and experts. There were around 100 people present at the ceremony, including international NGOs such as ICRC and ICMP.
The Korean government has allocated US$ 7 million to the Libyan government to help in this project.
The idea of the project was proposed by the Libyan government at the end of 2011. This resulted in a Korean delegation visiting Libya in March 2012 and a Libyan delegation visiting Korea in April 2012. In December 2012 an MOU was signed by both parties to implement the project.
The project includes the construction of a DNA test laboratory to be housed in a new building to be built by a Korean construction company, as well as the DNA test equipment and training for Libyan staff and experts.
The project is headed by Libyans, but the agreement also includes the use of Korean experts in excavation and identification. To this end, seven Korean experts have been in Libya since July 2012 helping in search and identification, and providing training to Libyan personnel.
The assistance also includes excavation and identification equipment and technical assistance which include seven vehicles consisting of; one bus for public relations, one bus for a mobile laboratory, one truck and four SUV’s for the transport of the teams. [/restrict]
