On 17 March the United Nations voted in support of action against Qadhafi in Libya. A huge amount of progress has been made since then. A no-fly zone has been put in place, thousands of lives have been saved, sanctions have been introduced and an arms embargo is being enforced. The Qadhafi regime has been dealt a serious blow.
On 29 March we hosted the London Conference on Libya. The Conference brought together over 40 Foreign Ministers and international organisations, including the UN Secretary General, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the Prime Minister of Qatar. Everyone agreed to support a process which would lead to a better future for the people of Libya.
Why are we involved in Libya?
At the start of this year, Libyans began calling for a more open and democratic country. Qadhafi and his forces responded with widespread violence against this popular uprising and innocent civilians, committing serious human rights violations.
In February, the United Nations condemned the brutality, with the threat of further action. Wide ranging sanctions were introduced. There was unprecedented criticism of Libya at the Arab League and African Union and crimes in Libya were referred to the International Criminal Court. Libya became the first country to be suspended from the Human Rights Council. But Qadhafi ignored all of this.
As the situation deteriorated, the UN Security Council responded by adopting resolution 1973 on 17 March. This authorises all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack. The resolution does the following:
- demands an immediate ceasefire and a complete end to violence and attacks against civilians; and
- increases the range of sanctions on Qadhafi’s regime.
The resolution explicitly rules out any foreign occupation force being sent in to Libya.
Military action
The decision on British military involvement in Libya was not taken lightly. It was taken because it was necessary to protect the Libyan people. The entire Cabinet and the vast majority of MPs agreed that it was the right thing to do. Importantly, our action has the clear legal backing of the United Nations, as well as support from the Arab League.
Our objective in Libya is to stop the massacre of innocent civilians by Qadhafi and his troops. Avoiding civilian casualties is paramount in this aim.
Progress so far
The London Conference agreed to:
- Strengthen the coalition in support of the implementation of Resolutions 1970 and 1973. We will continue international efforts until the very clear conditions laid out these Resolutions are met. These include an immediate ceasefire, a halt to all attacks on civilians and full humanitarian access to those in need.
- Accept the UN’s offer to co-ordinate humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Libya and lead the planning of longer-term stabilisation.
- Establish a Libya Contact Group to lead the international effort to support Libya. Qatar will host the firs meeting, which the UK will co-chair, in Doha.
Maintaining the momentum
We will continue to work with our allies and partners in support of the Libyan peoples’ aspirations for a better future. We are pleased that NATO is taking over command of the no-fly zone and on 27 March they agreed to take control of the entire operation. This is due to happen in the next few days.
We have said for some time that Qadhafi should step down immediately and we will continue to put pressure on him to do so. He has to do this so that the people of Libya can determine their own, more open and democratic country
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