THE TRIPOLI POST
17/12/2011 18:57:00
Libyan prime minister Mr Abdurrahim el-Keeb (right) hosts US defence secretary Leon Panetta in Tripoli
Leon E. Panetta, the first US defence secretary to visit Libya, on Saturday, paid tribute to the courage and determination of the Libyan people. In remarks at a meeting with Libya's interim prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keeb in Tripoli, Panetta said, he also made the visit to assess the progress and challenges facing a post revolutionary Libya.
Standing close to el-Keeb, Panetta, said that the Libyan people “bravely came together. They rose up against an oppressive regime. They fought, and many died, to chart a better future for themselves and for their children.”
The US defence secretary said he was “looking forward to building a close partnership with the Libyan government.” He pledged that the United States stands ready to offer security assistance cooperation once the government identifies its needs.
Panetta also listed challenges facing the new Libyan government, and warned the Libyan leaders they face a long struggle in emerging from decades of dictatorship including “bringing together all of the revolutionary forces that fought from west to east, securing weapons stockpiles, confronting terrorism, professionalizing the army and police, and developing the institutions of a free and representative government.”
"This will be a long and difficult transition, but I am confident that you will succeed," he said after meeting Libya's prime minister, who in turn said the Libyan government was conscious of the seriousness of integrating militia bands into official security services or disbanding them.
Panetta said he was confident the interim leaders are taking the right steps to reach out to all of these groups and bring them together so they will be part of one Libya and one defence system.
Panetta visited a cemetery believed by historians to be the gravesite of 13 US sailors killed in an explosion of the US ship Intrepid on September 4, 1804 that had slipped into the Tripoli harbour to destroy pirate ships that had captured an American frigate. The American sailors were killed before they reached their targets and their bodies were later buried in a grave outside of the Libyan capital.
In the 1940s, the local government dug up the area and moved an unknown quantity of the remains to be interred in five tombs on a hill above a busy thoroughfare that traces Tripoli’s harbour.
According to AP, some descendants of the Intrepid crew have called for repatriating the remains, and Congress has requested that the Pentagon study the feasibility of doing so.
Panetta released an official statement that indicated he found the cemetery, which at one time had fallen into disrepair, to be well tended.
He said: “It is a sign of the great friendship between the American and Libyan people that, in spite of the differences that have marked our governments’ relations over the years, the Libyan people have maintained this cemetery with the respect and honour that it deserves.”
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
18122011
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment