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Libya settlement must learn from Iraq mistakes, says UK report

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, June 29, IRNA -- Britain is calling for a 'politically inclusive settlement' in post-Gaddafi Libya that will take heed of the mistakes made in Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion.

A 50-page report, overseen by the Department for International Development, sets out priorities after a ceasefire between the Libyan regime and rebels based on assumptions that Muammar Gaddafi will be eventually forced from power but makes no prediction when this will happen.

The detailed 'stabilisation document' has been submitted to the Benghazi-based opposition and is hoping to win Arab approval at the next meeting of the Libyan contact group in Istanbul in mid-July, but is not being published.

According to International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, the stabilisation process “must be Libyan-owned and United Nations-led” and seeks to “ensure that the international community learns the lessons of what happened in Iraq.'

“I can’t tell you that we have learnt all the lessons, but I can tell you we are trying,” said Mitchell.

'It is incredibly important that the whole of this process is Libyan-owned. This has been done as a service to the Libyan people.'

The document, produced by the UK-led international stabilisation response team, includes recommendations on infrastructure, oil exports and basic services such as education, water and health as well as on security and justice being a priority.

It stresses the importance of learning from such mistakes after the overthrow of Saddam Husein's regime when large numbers of Iraqi regime officials were removed from office, leading to a collapse of law and order.

This includes that Libya should not follow the Iraqi example of disbanding the army, which has been seen by some officials as a strategic mistake that helped fuel the insurgency in the creation of sensitive and volatile circumstances.

Unlike with the “de-Ba’athification” of Iraq, Mitchell said he did not want to see members of the local “revolutionary councils” in Libya banned from the political process.

He said the US, UK and UN would lead on the political settlement; the European Union, NATO and UK would take charge of security and justice; Australia and the UN would work on securing basic services; and international organisations such as the African Development Bank would lead the economic reconstruction, along with Turkey and the US.

Although Britain has played a leading role in the military intervention, it has ruled out contributing to any peacekeeping force on the principle that it will not put 'boots on the ground'.

Issues on security range from preventing looting and revenge attacks to providing basic services, and ensuring effective communications to ensure Libyan citizens know what is happening at a time of uncertainty.

It is expected that unarmed UN monitors would most likely police a ceasefire if the environment was 'benign' but there are discussions about a heavier peacekeeping force with Turkey expected to play a key part.

The purpose of the dossier was not to dictate to the Transitional National Council how it should make the transition to a new government, nor was it an infallible blueprint, but the hope was that it would assist moving to a post-Gaddafi political settlement.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30454807