Harper to formally announce extension at NATO meeting next week
Canada will extend its involvement in NATO’s Libya mission by three months, CTV reports. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to formally announce the decision next week at a NATO meeting in New York. Canadian warplanes joined the bombing effort earlier this year to protect civilians from forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Now the former rebels control much of the country, but pockets of loyalist resistance remain. Gadhafi’s whereabouts are also unknown. Abubaker Karmos, a Libyan dignitary to Canada, told CTV that his country still needs the protection of Canadian forces. He also suggested that Canadian companies could be rewarded with construction contracts as Libya begins rebuilding after its civil war. On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced that Canada will reopen its embassy in Tripoli. He also said more than $2 billion in frozen Libyan assets will be released so that the new Libyan government can restore electricity, water and hospital service to people in the country.