Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the capabilities, troop numbers and mission objectives of the Libya international assistance mission.

Italy is leading the planning for a Libya International Assistance Mission which is intended to provide training to Libyan security forces in response to a formal request made by the Libyan Government of National Accord. The mission is not designed to provide security for the Libyan Government.

The capabilities, troop numbers and objectives for any potential deployment are not yet sufficiently developed and will be further refined once a request for support has been received and the requirement becomes clear. No decisions have been made about the contribution of any British military forces to this mission.