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UK troops 'on standby' to go to Libya

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 5, IRNA -- A battalion of 600 British troops was reported Saturday to be on standby to go to Libya at 24 hours’ despite warnings that the country should not militarily intervene.

The Daily Telegraph identified the infantry on “heightened readiness” to be deployed as 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which is also known as The Black Watch.

It quoted the Ministry of Defence in London insisting that the troops were prepared for humanitarian relief operations and not combat operations amid concern that Libya could be heading for a protracted civil war.

Members of Nato military alliance also agreed on Friday to draw up contingency plans for how their armed forces could intervene, according to the Telegraph.

Britain was said to be also preparing to send diplomats and specialist advisers to the eastern city of Benghazi, where much of the Libyan opposition appear to be based.

Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Tuesday that the UK 'must plan for every eventuality' in Libya and confirmed that discussions with opposition groups were under way.

British Labor MP Jeremy Corbyn told IRNA this week that there would be all kinds of scenarios being worked out by the West “dressed up as some form of democracy they are going to impose” in Arab states due to the current uprisings.

“The whole motive of the West is not about bringing peace and democracy as it has ever been, it is all about exploitation and imperial ambitions,” said Corbyn.

“Peace is achieved not by a more powerful nation coming in and imposing peace and society it wants, but by people achieving their own justice, own democracy, own rights,” he said.

Stop the War Coalition (STWC), Britain's biggest peace group has also warned that military intervention in Libya would be disastrous and said it should be opposed by everyone who wanted democracy.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30280288