Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti arrived in Libya yesterday to revive a treaty of friendship and to offer his nation’s expertise in training police in the North African country, an AFP correspondent said.

Monti, on his first visit to Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, is leading a delegation of high-ranking officials, including Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi and Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola.

During his talks with senior Libyan officials, Monti is expected to sign a series of bilateral agreements, including one that will offer Italy’s services in training the police force of the new Libya, officials said.

Monti will also open a consulate in Libya and hand over the sculpted head of the first century Domitilla Minor, which was smuggled from the Libyan town of Sabratha in the 1960s and recently auctioned at Christie’s, Libyan sources said.