§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanOn 19 December 2003, Libya announced that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programmes, and limit its ballistic missiles to a range of less than 300kms. Since then, Libya has been working to put these commitments into effect, and has been pursuing a course of reintegration into the international community. The Government welcome and fully support this process.
The Government recognise that Libya, following its decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction, has legitimate defence requirements. The United Kingdom has a clear interest in developing an open and co-operative relationship with Libya on defence matters. During his visit to Libya on 25 March, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister announced the appointment of General Robin Searby as the United Kingdom Defence Co-ordinator for Libya in order to offer Libya a new military relationship with the United Kingdom. As a natural part of progress towards full normalisation of the United Kingdom's relations with Libya, the Government intend to respond to Libyan requests to discuss its legitimate defence requirements in detail.
The Government welcome news of Libyan and German agreement on a compensation package for the victims of the 1986 La Belle disco bombing as a significant milestone in the process of rebuilding the United Kingdom's and the European Union's relations with Libya. In light of this agreement, the United Kingdom expects to revisit the issue of the EU arms embargo imposed on Libya in 1986 with EU partners over coming months. If the embargo were removed, the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (which apply to all countries) would be the test against which any proposed export of defence equipment to Libya would be assessed.
While the embargo remains in place, all contact with Libya in this area must fall within the terms of the EU arms embargo and United Kingdom law. This means that no commitments in relation to the actual supply of licensable defence equipment will be made while the embargo is in place.