Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the latest situation in Libya.

The UK is deeply concerned by the continuing violence and political polarisation in Libya, and its impact on the Libyan people and the stability of the wider region. The Libyan people have suffered gravely from human rights violations by all sides in the conflict, and over 400,000 Libyans have been internally displaced. Infrastructure has been seriously damaged while the depletion of state resources threatens the Libyan economy. Terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have established themselves, and threaten the security of both Libya and the wider region. Criminal gangs are exploiting the security void to smuggle and traffic increasing numbers of refugees and migrants through Libya, leading to continuing loss of lives at sea.

A united Libyan government is urgently needed in order to address these challenges. That is why the UK welcomed the latest round of talks in Morocco and Berlin on 8 and 10 June respectively on the fourth draft Libyan political agreement, led by UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Leon. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our diplomatic network have intensively lobbied Libyan negotiators and regional governments in support of the agreement. We welcome regional efforts and those of the African Union and others in support of the process. We urge all parties in the dialogue to sign an agreement and establish a representative Government of National Accord (GNA) that can deal with the political and security challenges that Libya faces.