Libya

(asked on 4th November 2014) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons UK-based training for Libyan soldiers has been cancelled for all participants.


Answered by
Mark Francois Portrait
Mark Francois
This question was answered on 4th December 2014

The training of Libyan troops under the General Purpose Force initiative, supported by the UK, US, Italy, and Turkey and other international partners, is aimed at supporting a peaceful transition to an open, democratic, stable and secure Libya. It forms part of the wider international effort on long term security sector reform to bring the use of force under Libyan Government control and assist with disarming, disbanding and reintegrating armed groups in Libya.

The Libyan Government requested that Libyan troops were trained outside Libya to allow the creation of a force that was geographically representative of Libya and away from the influence of armed groups in Libya in order to protect its neutrality. Training in Libya would have entailed considerable expense and required the deployment of significant numbers of UK troops into a security environment in which we could not guarantee their safety.

The MOD considered a number of alternative training locations, including UK sovereign bases overseas and in partner countries. Training in the UK offered the most rapid, effective way of meeting the Libyan Government's requirement, and at the lowest cost.

The Army has been providing a challenging training programme to the Libyan General Purpose Force since mid June and the majority of recruits have responded positively to the training despite the ongoing political uncertainty in Libya. They have reached a competent standard and are capable of fulfilling a number of roles on their return. However, as the Prime Minister has recognised, there have been disciplinary issues, some affecting the local community which are completely unacceptable and a matter of regret. For these reasons, the Government agreed with the Libyan Government to bring forward the training completion date.

A team has been set up to produce for the Defence Secretary before Christmas an objective report into the GPF training. It is led by an MOD senior civil servant who was not involved in the delivery, supported by a senior civil servant loaned from another Government Department to provide an additional element of independence and challenge.

The UK remains committed to supporting the Libyan authorities and people as they work to establish stability and security across the country. The immediate priority must be agreement to a political settlement and the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Libya, Jonathan Powell, is playing an active role in supporting UN-led mediation efforts to this end.

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