Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on repairing desecrated headstones of British soldiers at Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya.

The Government was appalled by the damage to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and the Benghazi Military Cemetary that occurred in February and June 2012. As soon as UK officials were made aware of the damage, they visited the cemeteries to inspect the damage, and raised the issue with the Libyan authorities in Benghazi and Tripoli. With support from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the site has since been restored to a standard befitting the sacrifice of those commemorated in Benghazi. There is now a patrol and guard outside the cemetery to protect this important site from any further attacks.

However, the authorities are unable to conduct investigations due to the current political and security situation. The attacks appear to have been carried out by extremist individuals, whose motives are unknown. Other religious sites in Libya have also been attacked since 2011, including Islamic sites. The UK is focused on supporting the efforts of Bernardino Leon, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to build a political settlement and establishing a National Unity Government. This will help stabilise the country and help the judicial system to function again.