Canada travels to Lybia.

On Tuesday 11^th October, the Canadian Foreign Affair Minister, John Baird, traveled to Tripoli.

During his visit to Libya he attended to a ceremony for the reopen of the Canadian embassy and to announce that Canada will contribute with $10 million to help to secure the 23,000 shoulder-to-air missile launchers in circulation, discarded riles and other guns and stockpiles of chemical weapons, which were part of Gaddafi’s arsenal, before they get in the wrong hands. Baird also focused on the role that the Libyan women are playing on the revolution, so he hosted a round table with Lybian women’s rights advocates. He also met with representatives from non-governmental organizations; Libya’s social affairs minister Anwar Abu Shagur and oil Minister Ali Tarhouni.

In my opinion, the trip of John Baird to Tripoli can be seen as a step towards the improvement of the Libyan situation, but more than a clear impact, it has a symbolic meaning. I mean that even if is important, it is not a key element for the Libyan population right now. The money that Canada and other countries are going to invest to secure the weapons, it is necessary, of course, to protect the international security. But for me, if they are going to invest that much money on the weapons, why they do not spend a little bit more in helping the civilian population. I might have an idealistic point of view, but I go over the idea, that protecting those weapons is key for the world security, but protecting and helping the population is a main point to achieve the peace that the world desperately claims for.

Canada reopens embassy. The nation.

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/12-Oct-2011/Canada-reopens-embassy

Irene Izquieta Garcia.