(22 January 2016) The Secretary General of COPEAM (the Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean) Pier Luigi Malesani met with the President of the Libyan public television Haitham Kamouka. In the meeting, the two parties expressed the need to resume ties between the COPEAM network and the North African television, one of the founders of the conference. Malesani recalled the recent training project supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an initiative that brought to Rome a group of Libyan journalists for three weeks of training workshops with RAI and at the University “La Sapienza”. President Kamouka also emphasized the non-partisan role of the public broadcaster LNC – Libyan National Channel: “We are not part of the dispute. As a national institution, our mission is to reflect all opinions and give voice to all Libyan people. We also want to improve the country’s image: although no Libyan citizen is guilty of violent crimes out of the country, the chaos in which we have fallen creates prejudices that are reflected, for example, in the rigid visa policy to which Libyans are subjected in many countries. Our television needs technical support and training on the part of our partners to fulfill its duties.” In renewing the invitation to the next COPEAM General Assembly, scheduled in Corsica April 7-9, Malesani remained convinced that it would be the ideal setting to provide a more realistic representation of Libya in the presence of all Mediterranean television and radio. Malesani said that “the Libyan public television should pledge to permanently shift from state television to public service for all citizens.” (Red)
