Libya |
United Kingdom |
Libya–United Kingdom relations are bilateral relations between Libya and the United Kingdom.
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Relations after Muammar Gaddafi's 1969 coup were generally very poor, punctuated by events such as the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher, the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103. Relations improved during the 1990s, and peaked in December 2003, when Libya announced that they would abandon their weapons of mass destruction programmes. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair travelled to Tripoli, met with Gaddafi and declared a "new relationship" between the countries.[1]
In February 2011, the Libyan civil war broke out, and the UK joined France in leading the push for military intervention against Libyan government forces. The United Nations approved and, in March, the UK joined a coalition of 20 states in a bombing campaign against Libya and UK Prime Minister David Cameron called for Gaddafi, as well as members of his regime, to resign immediately.[2] The UK also formally recognised the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) as the government of Libya, inviting the NTC to nominate an ambassador and other diplomats after the expulsion of the Gaddafi regime's ambassador, Omar Jelban, in May 2011.[3] The remaining diplomats were expelled in July and August 2011. The United Kingdom now regards NTC as the "legitimate governing authority in Libya" and deals with it as if it "were the state of Libya". [4] [5] On 10 August 2011, the Foreign Secretary William Hague announced that NTC was staffing the Libyan Embassy in London.[6]
The British Foreign Office announced that its investigation into the 1986 Lockerbie bombing remained open as of 26 September 2011 and said it had received the NTC's assurances that it would cooperate with Scotland Yard in the effort, but later the same day, interim Libyan Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi said the case was closed and no further suspects would be implicated by Libya.[7]
In response to the rioting events that took place in English cities in August 2011, Gaddafi regime Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to step down stating that "David Cameron has lost all legitimacy and must go", mockingly echoing the comments made by Cameron about Gaddafi. The statement also called on world governments to take action against the "gross aggression against the rights of the British people, who are demanding its right to rule its country".[8] [9] Mr Kaim then appealed to the UN to "not stay with its arms crossed in the face of the flagrant violation of the rights of the British people." Libyan state TV reported false claims that the British government was using Irish and Scottish mercenaries against rioters which were referred to as the "rebels of Britain". The use of foreign merceneries by the Gaddafi regime is well documented by the international media and acknowledged by defectors. [10]
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