§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what attempts were made by his Department to obtain a clear statement from the Libyan authorities, or from the persons purporting to represent the people's bureau of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, as to the exact status or functions of the occupants, following the publicly announced take-over of the bureau in St. James's square earlier in the current year; and with what results.
§ Mr. LuceOn 20 February 1984 the Libyan Foreign Liaison Bureau told our embassy in Tripoli that a new committee had temporarily assumed charge of the people's bureau in London. We immediately made clear our dissatisfaction at this development. Since it was unacceptable for a diplomatic mission to be run by a committee, we asked the Libyans to nominate an individual in charge. We also said that until this had taken place we would not be able to accept any new notifications of appointment. Those members of the new committee who had not been previously notified to us did not therefore have any diplomatic status.
We repeatedly reminded the Libyans of the need to clarify the position and to nominate an individual in charge. In the end, a senior official of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office met two members of the bureau on 11 March. He made it clear that we expected the issue to be resolved without further delay. I reiterated this to Mr. Fitouri on 12 March.
After further prompting, Her Majesty's ambassador in Tripoli was informed orally on 8 April that Mr. Muftah Fitouri had been appointed acting secretary. No written confirmation of this had, however, reached the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by 17 April.