Britain apparently regards Libya as a Western Ally. How true do you think this is, or is it more because of lucrative oil drilling and exploration contracts perhaps?
Would appear that Britain is assisting with training of Libyan troops. Following recent experiences with Iraq, I wonder how wise that really is?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090912/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_libya
| Quote: |
| Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other government officials have emphasized Libya's remarkable transformation from rogue state to Western ally and the need to keep Gadhafi on board since he renounced terrorism and dismantled his country's clandestine nuclear program in 2003.
But media reports have suggested that the prisoner exchange agreement that paved the way for al-Megrahi release was motivated in part by a desire to secure access to Libya's vast energy reserves. British Justice Secretary Jack Straw seemed to endorse that claim when he told the Telegraph last week that trade played "a very big part" in the negotiations over the prisoner deal. |
Would appear that Britain is assisting with training of Libyan troops. Following recent experiences with Iraq, I wonder how wise that really is?
| Quote: |
| Some of Britain's most elite soldiers have been training Libyan forces in counterterrorism and surveillance for the past six months, a newspaper said Saturday.
The Daily Telegraph said a contingent of between four and 14 men from the Special Air Service, or SAS, were working with Col. Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers in Libya, a country once notorious for its support of terrorism. The paper cited an unidentified SAS source as saying that the training was seen as part of the deal to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, whose return to Libya last month outraged Americans and raised questions over the nature of Britain's relationship with Gadhafi's authoritarian regime. |
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090912/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_libya
