Libya: anti-Gaddafi rebels release SBS troops
Anti-Gaddafi rebels in Benghazi have tonight released an SBS team captured in eastern Libya. But why did they arrive by helicopter and at night when they could have entered the country by land?
The captured SBS troops were accompanying a group of diplomats who came to the country to establish links with the new council running eastern Libya, according to Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Editor Lindsey Hilsum.
But on Sunday the situation was further complicated by the fact that Libyan state TV broadcast a recording of a conversation between the British ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and Libya’s former justice minister, who is now head of the council for eastern Libya.
State television also alleged that a young Libyan in London had met the British prime minister, David Cameron, and talked about trying to obtain arms.
The Foreign Office claims the diplomatic mission was not covert but completely open. It has also confirmed tonight that the eight men have been released and left on HMS Cumberland, which is in Benghazi, to evacuate stranded foreigners.
Why did the British come through the window when they could have come through the door? Council for eastern Libya member
This does not explain why the diplomats and the SBS troops accompanying them came into Libya by helicopter in the middle of the night, landing in the desert about 25 miles south of Benghazi, where they linked up with a man working on a local agricultural project.
Channel 4 News spoke to a young man, Mari Ghaith, who said he had been guarding the project on the night the British mission arrived. He said when he and his colleagues searched the Britons’ bags, they found “guns and bombs”.
But it is perfectly easy to enter Libya by land, Lindsey Hilsum told Samira Ahmed. She said one member of the council had asked her today: “Why did the British come through the window when they could have come through the door?”
The SBS troops were captured and taken to the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, according to an original report in the Sunday Times.
The aim of the mission is thought to have been to establish relations with opponents of President Gaddafi ahead of a visit by senior colleagues.
The SBS intervention apparently angered rebels, who fear that ordinary Libyans will interpret it as evidence of western interference and that the Gaddafi regime will exploit it to rally patriotic support.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Defence was refusing to comment on the report, but Defence Secretary Liam Fox has confirmed the presence of a “small diplomatic team” in Benghazi.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Fox said: “We are in touch with them but it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on that for reasons I am sure you will understand.”
We want to be able to work with (opposition groups) to ensure the demise of the Gaddafi regime. Liam Fox, Defence Secretary
Mr Fox would not comment on whether or not the team was in danger, but he added: “It is a very difficult situation to be able to understand in detail. There are a number of different opposition groups to Colonel Gaddafi in Libya who do seem relatively disparate.
“We want to clearly understand what the dynamic is here because we want to be able to work with them to ensure the demise of the Gaddafi regime.”
Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed to ITN that there was “a small British diplomatic team” in Benghazi and that the British government was in contact with them. Mr Hague also said he had spoken to opposition leaders in Libya in recent days.
We intend, in consultation with the opposition, to send a further team to strengthen our dialogue in due course Foreign Sectretary William Hague
He added: “We’re also still in contact with the foreign minister of the Gaddafi regime to get our messages across about how appalled we are about the situation in Libya and the reference we have made to the International Criminal Court.”
He later went on to admit that a “team went to Libya to initiate contacts with the opposition,” said Mr Hague. They experienced difficulties which have now been satisfactorily resolved”. Further to this, Mr Hague admitted there would be more diplomats heading to Libya: “We intend, in consultation with the opposition, to send a further team to strengthen our dialogue in due course.
“We continue to press for Gaddafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people.”
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told Channel 4 News he thought it was right that the government was working to engage the people who had rebelled in eastern Libya.
But he said he had “real concerns” that Britain had failed to show “a steady hand on the tiller” in the course of recent events in Libya.
“First of all, of course, we had the flights fiasco with the Foreign Office. Then we had the no-fly zone, talked up one day only to be talked down the next,” Mr Alexander said.