Speaking in a press briefing after receiving a British delegation on visit to Tripolias part of a cooperation agreement in the field of justice, UK Ambassador in Libya, Sir Vincent Fean said on Wednesday Libyan-British relations were excellent.

Members of the UK delegation said meetings with Libyan authorities, including the secretary of the Libyan General People's Committee for Justice Mustapha Abdeljelil and the public prosecutor were fruitful.

Talking about the cooperation project between London and Tripoli aimed at providing Libyan prisons with appropriate equipment, the delegation said the project which started in 2004 is in its third phase since April 2009 and aims at building capacity among the prison administration personnel.

The first stage, which stretched from 2004 to 2006, covered 20 prisons in Libya and was used to organize awareness campaigns on the respect of human rights of detainees.
The project is due to end in 2012.

The second phase, which stretched from 2007 to April 2009 aimed at assessing each Libyan penitentiary institution, training police detectives to meet international prison management standards and developing a specific plan to manage each of the Libyan penitentiary institutions.

The British high-ranking officials expressed pleasure about the strides made by Libya towards complying with international standards and improving conditions of imprisonment through the widening of the penitentiary institutions, prisoners' access to medical care among others.

They also commended Libyan authorities over their efforts to review the criminal code for the institution of new alternatives to sentences of imprisonment.(Pana)