A high-level Italian military delegation arrived in the Air Force Academy in Misrata on Wednesday morning. The delegation included the head of the Libyan-Italian Relations Committee and the Director of the Training Department.
According to the “Hokoometna” platform on its Facebook page, the Italian delegation arrived on an official visit aimed at strengthening academic and technical cooperation in the defense field between Libya and Italy.
It said that the military delegation arrived aboard a C-130 aircraft owned by the Italian government, which took off from the Sigonella Naval Air Base in Sicily as part of a scheduled routine flight under existing military cooperation arrangements.
It stressed that revealing the identity of the aircraft and those onboard definitively refutes rumors circulating on some social media platforms about the nature of the flight, stressing that the visit is purely technical and training-oriented.
Hokoometna added that this visit falls within the framework of the growing partnership between the two countries in the areas of training and logistical support, and confirms the ongoing joint work to develop the capacities of national defense institutions.
The arrival of the Italian military aircraft in Misrata coincided with the publication of US media reports suggesting that the administration of President Donald Trump might begin transferring undocumented migrants from the US to Libya.
Both the Government of National Unity and the parallel government denied any coordination with the US administration on the matter and firmly rejected such a step.
