EU opens humanitarian office in Tripoli

The European Union has said that it had opened a humanitarian aid office in Tripoli to speed up delivery of essential food, medicine and water supplies in the shattered Libyan capital. The office, run by EU civil protection experts, will help ensure "health, medicines, food and drinking water is delivered expeditiously, and that new needs are identified and addressed immediately," it was announced here on Tuesday. "Safeguarding the safety of civilians is of utmost importance and a point of major concern in this volatile moment," Kristalina Georgieva, the EU''s crisis response commissioner, said in the statement. Georgieva said the EU had unblocked 10 million euros of a 70 million euro EU fund for Libya for emergency humanitarian operations in the Tripoli region. "My major concern now is for the civilians in Tripoli. Our field experts are assessing the humanitarian situation and the fast-evolving needs" in Tripoli. The experts are ensuring that the assistance given by the European Union (EU) in health, medicines, food and drinking water is delivered expeditiously, and that new needs are identified and addressed immediately, said a statement by the EU''s executive body. Humanitarian assistance will be an important topic for discussion at the Libya Conference in Paris on Thursday, she said.