Reply #4: 'Thank you, Cameron, thank you, Sarkozy, thank you, Obama' [View All]

[pinboy3niner]

Matthew Weaver and Paul Owen posted on The Guardian's Live Blog in advance of the Cameron/Sarkozy press conference in Tripoli:


"In my three weeks here, people have often come up to me unprompted and said: 'Thank you, Cameron, thank you, Sarkozy, thank you, Obama," David Smith reports from Tripoli. In a telephone call on (a) crackly line David said:

There is still a lot of goodwill towards the Nato allies. In Tripoli there will be an extremely warm reception (for David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy). (But) a guarding against any sense of "mission accomplished". Of course fighting goes on in some Gaddafi strongholds. (But) This will be something of a victory lap. The arrival of these senior figures will be seen as yet another step towards normality.

...


There are no chances being taken with security, there are airport style metal detectors, the hotel is in lockdown, many surrounding rounds have been closed. They are clearly conscious of the security risk ...

It is an important measure of the apparent return to normality in Tripoli that this visit is happening at all. When you drive through Tripoli there are fewer and fewer military checkpoints every day. There is more and more traffic and more and more shops open. You can walk very late at night and feel safer than you would in many parts of London or New York. There hasn't been any sign of an insurgency.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/15/libya-world-leaders-visit-tripoli#block-6