A delegation of Italian officials held talks at the interior ministry in the Libyan capital Tripoli Tuesday on training its security forces, the Libyan Address website reported.
During the talks, interior minister Fathi Bashagha discussed "issues of common interest", according to the Libyan Address, which is close to powerful eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar.
Bashaga added that his ministry “looks forward to the direct cooperation and support of the Italian government in the fields of training, qualification and preparation of the ministry’s security staff,” the website said.
The Italian delegation was headed by the director of the Italian foreign affairs ministry's political affairs department, Bashagha reportedly wrote on his Facebook page.
Italy supports a roadmap unveiled last year by United Nations envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame to stabilise the chaos-stricken country and hold national elections later this year.
Oil-rich Libya has been in turmoil since the Nato-led ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi amid a 2011 rebellion. Rival administrations continue to vie for power in Tripoli and the east of the country and a myriad of armed groups have filled a power vacuum left by the lack of an effective central government.
