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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Campbell and Hames quiz Hague on Libya
March 11, 2011 6:01 PM
• [Mar 07] Menzies Campbell (North East Fife, Liberal Democrat): THERE is much in the Foreign Secretary's statement to be welcomed, but I regret what I am about to say. Is it not clear that this mission was ill conceived, poorly planned and embarrassingly executed? What is he going to do to restore the United Kingdom's reputation in relation to foreign policy in the middle east, what will be the role of any further mission and what permissions will it seek before it goes?
William Hague (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Richmond (Yorks), Conservative): As I said, the United Kingdom, having led the way in so many of the ways I have described at the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, is in the forefront of western policy on this issue. Clearly, further contacts with the opposition in eastern Libya are necessary and desirable, for all the reasons that I set out in my statement. The opposition there has made it clear that it would welcome such contact, so it is important for that to go ahead. Clearly, it must go ahead on a very different basis from that on which it went ahead last week, and that is what we will set about.
• . . Duncan Hames (Chippenham, Liberal Democrat): I wonder whether the Foreign Secretary could elaborate on that point. I am keen to know what direct contact either our embassy or his other officials have established with the chair of the national Libyan council, Mustapha Abdul-Jalil.
William Hague (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Richmond (Yorks), Conservative): The diplomatic team that was there at the weekend did have a meeting with him, and we have had a range of contacts with other figures in the opposition. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that several figures have defected from the Gaddafi regime to the opposition, and I have spoken to some of them myself, including General Younis, one of the Ministers who took some of the special forces over to the other side in Libya, so our contact has been with Mr Jalil, that particular general and other figures among the opposition forces in eastern Libya.
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