Downing Street Says

Asked if the Government’s efforts to seek clarification about the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks yesterday had paid off, the PMOS said that we had now received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister that Libya stood by all its previous commitments regarding Lockerbie and the case of Wpc Fletcher. We had indicated the importance of making progress on the latter issue and the importance of continuing to make progress on WMD programmes. Asked in what format the assurances had been given to the British Government, the PMOS said that it had been done through our diplomatic channels.

Put to him repeatedly that the Libyan Prime Minister’s words surely carried more weight than those of the Libyan Foreign Minister, the PMOS said that he was the British Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman, not the Libyan Prime Minister’s. As Jack Straw had said yesterday, it was important to recognise that Libya had clarified its position on Lockerbie via the letter which they had sent to the UN Security Council last September and by accepting general responsibility in 1999 for the death of Wpc Yvonne Fletcher. Asked to explain why the British Government was satisfied with the clarification from the Libyan Foreign Minister while the US authorities were holding out for a retraction from Libyan Prime Minister himself, the PMOS said that we had been seeking clarification and had now received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister. As we had underlined during his visit to the UK earlier this month, what was important was that progress was made on issues such as WMD and the case of Wpc Fletcher. Put to him that the Libyan Prime Minister outranked the Libyan Foreign Minister, the PMOS said that he was not an expert on Libyan politics.

Asked if he would agree that remarks that were said publicly should be clarified publicly, the PMOS pointed out that Libya had met the requirements of the UN Security Council on the issue of Lockerbie. They had also accepted responsibility for it, agreed to pay compensation to the victims’ families and had agreed to co-operate with any further investigation. As we had made clear consistently, it was important to continue to see progress being made. Put to him that the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks yesterday showed the letter to the UN Security Council and Libya’s willingness to co-operate in a very different light, the PMOS repeated that we had received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister. The most important thing, as the Libyans understood very well, was that we continued to see progress being made. Asked if he was indicating that the British Government was simply disregarding the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks, the PMOS said that the way to judge such issues was through the progress that was made on the WMD programmes and the Wpc Fletcher case. Asked repeatedly if the British Government was satisfied with the assurance, the PMOS said that the most important thing was to make judgements about what people actually did. That was what we would continue to do.

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» Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Libya

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