By Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 2 July 2013:
The British government has strenuously denied claims made by a UK newspaper that hundreds of soldiers . . .[restrict]are to be deployed in Libya.
The UK has offered to train some 2,000 Libyan soldiers, responding to a request from the Libyan government. However, the British said today: “There are no plans to conduct this training in Libya.”
The offer originated at the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland, attended by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. The UK was one of four countries to offer training, to support the Libyan government in its efforts to integrate militias into the national army.
If the country accepts the support, up to 2,000 members of the Libyan Armed Forces will be instructed in basic infantry skills. This would typically involve a ten-week training course.
“Detailed planning is ongoing, including where this training will take place,” the UK government said: “A number of locations are being considered and no final decision has been taken, but it will be outside Libya.”
The intention of the training, the British said, is to “help the Libyan Government disarm and integrate militias into the army and bring security to the whole country.” It is part of a package of security and defence assistance and wider engagement to help Libya with security.
The article, published by UK newspaper the Daily Mail, suggested that the UK government was preparing to send troops to tackle extremists in the country. This has been described as “factually incorrect” by a spokesman at the British embassy in Tripoli. [/restrict]
