Cairo, Oct 11 (IANS) Farah Dakhlallah, British foreign office spokesperson, has said that Egypt can play an important role in combating extremism by securing the Libyan borders and banning arms smuggling as well as realising national reconciliation in Libya.

Dakhlallah told Egypt’s state-run news agency MENA that Britain was backing the UN efforts aimed at a ceasefire in Libya and launching a political dialogue.

She said that Britain recognised the Libyan parliament which has been elected democratically, noting that the British premier has recently appointed Johnasan Paul as special envoy to Libya to work with Libyan negotiators and international partners to start a dialogue among all rivals in order to reach a permanent political agreement.

Regarding cooperation with Egypt in training Libyan forces, the spokesperson said Britain has announced a three-year programme worth 62.5 million pounds ($100.4 million) to help restore security, defence and judiciary sectors in Libya, including the training of thousands of Libyan policemen.

Libya has witnessed growing waves of violence since the 2011 turmoil that toppled the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Over the past few months, violence flared up in different cities in Libya since the Islamist militants mounted deadly attacks on pro-secular militias as well as national armies.