Libya opens first DNA lab to trace unidentified bodies in graves

Libya's first DNA analysis laboratory has been opened here 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 (GACFMMP), is sponsored by oil company Repsol and the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).

A staff member works in the DNA laboratory in Tripoli, Libya, March 11, 2018.

"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.

Staff members work in the DNA laboratory in Tripoli, Libya, March 11, 2018.

The Libyan Ministry for Martyrs and Missing Persons announced in June 2013 that there had been 2,516 people missing since the 2011 uprising, which toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The ministry announced that 110 mass graves have been reported in the country so far, and more than 5,000 people were killed during the 2011 uprising.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)