Libya’s first DNA analysis lab opens

BY Libyan Express Mar 08, 2018 - 14:42

DNA Lab opens in Libya (Photo: Social Media)

The first DNA analysis laboratory in Libya has been opened to help identify bodies recovered from mass graves.

The laboratory, opened Tuesday and run by the General Authority for the Care of the Families of Martyrs and Missing Persons, is sponsored by oil company Repsol and the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

“The laboratory will contribute to ending the suffering of thousands of families of martyrs and missing people all over Libya,” the NOC said in a statement.

Khaled Bokhotwa, the NOC’s officer of health, safety, environment, security and sustainable development, said the laboratory will ensure “the links between the martyrs and missing persons with their families” through the advanced technology of DNA tracing.

“The laboratory will help identify their families in these difficult times, especially with many bodies extracted from mass graves that have not been identified so far,” Bokhotwa said during the opening ceremony.

Mahmoud Al-Herri, head of the GACFMMP, said the laboratory will be used on all mass graves in Libya.

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