Libya steps up efforts to resume radar detection system

Libyan chief staff of air defense confirmed on Sunday that the army and the Ministry of Transportation would jointly launch a radar coverage project to monitor the country's airspace.Col. Jumaa al-Abani told Xinhua that he had met Transportation Minister Abdul Qader Ahmed and the two sides agreed to determine a mechanism for implementing the project.Al-Abani said they had agreed to start the civil works for a radar station at Tripoli International Airport, to build a civil aviation information center in Benghazi as a substitute for the main center in the capital and to complete the civil works of radar stations in Sabha and Tazrbu.They also talked about supplying necessary equipment to resume work in Tubruk radar station, al-Abani added.Resuming a radar detection system is one of the major challenges in post-conflict Libya as the old system was mostly destroyed by NATO during the conflict in 2011 that toppled Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi.Al-Abani said resuming radar detection system is necessary and crucial to protecting Libya's airspace and cracking down on cross-border smuggling, especially arms smuggling.