TRIPOLI – Libya's professional soldiers must dedicate themselves to serving their country “without an agenda,” the commander of one of the National Army's most prominent brigades told his men at a graduation ceremony in Tripoli. Emad Trabelsi, commander of the Ministry of Defense's Sawa'iq (Lightning) Brigade, encouraged his troops to do their duty selflessly and without personal motives. Trabelsi was addressing 200 new graduates to his unit at a ceremony at its headquarters in the Da'wa Islamia college in the capital. His message chimed clearly with the government's stated objective of establishing a professional armed forces not beholden to the leaders of semi-autonomous militias or other external forces. High profile figures from the General National Congress and army attended, with several foreign military attaches present for the parade. Key figures, including former Minister of Defense Osama Al-Juwaili, delivered speeches as the troops paraded and mounted displays of the training they had received. Members of the unit's personal protection team gave a demonstration of how they guard high-profile figures in the government, taking an “attacker” to the ground to applause from the podium. The battalion's armored personnel carriers and machine-gun mounted pick-up trucks also joined the parade, and parachutists dropped onto the parade ground from a helicopter, before the event closed with a fireworks display. – Libya Herald
