Britain is calling for a “politically inclusive settlement” in post-Muammar Qaddafi Libya that will take heed of the mistakes made in Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion.
A detailed “stabiliztion document,” overseen by the UK Department for International Development, has been given to the Benghazi-based Libyan opposition and sets out priorities after a ceasefire between the regime and rebels.
It assumes that Qaddafi — wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity — will leave or be forced from power, but it does not predict when that will happen. “It [the stabilization process] must be Libyan-owned and United Nations-led,” British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday. “The work seeks to ensure that the international community learns the lessons of what happened in Iraq.”
Issues 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. Unarmed UN monitors would most likely police a ceasefire if the environment was “benign,” but there are discussions about a heavier peacekeeping force. Turkey is expected to play a key part.
Britain has ruled out contributing to a peacekeeping force on the principle that it will not put “boots on the ground,” Mitchell said.
Security and justice are the second of five priorities, with the recommendation 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 volatile circumstances after former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s overthrow.
“The report has learned the lesson of Iraq about the importance of using to the maximum possible extent existing structures,” Mitchell said. “One of the first things that should happen once Tripoli falls is that someone should get on the phone to the former Tripoli chief of police and tell him he has got a job and he needs to secure the safety and security of the people of Tripoli. Of course, at that stage the sanctions on assets will be unfrozen and money will be able to flow much more easily than it is at the moment so as well as having a job he might actually get paid.”
Benghazi’s rebel leaders “have spent some time working out who to call at that point and who to engage with to demonstrate the importance of good order.”
The US, Britain and the UN would have “strong input” into a post-Qaddafi political settlement; the EU, NATO and the UN would take the lead on issues of security and justice; Australia, Turkey and the UN would help with basic services; Turkey, the US and the international financial institutions would lead on the economy.
However, “it is important that the whole of this process is Libyan-owned. This has been done as a service to the Libyan people,” Mitchell said.
The 50-page report, which includes recommendations on infrastructure and education, was produced by the UK-led International Stabilization Response Team, and is expected to win international and Arab approval at a meeting of the Libyan contact group in Istanbul next month.
In related news, France has begun parachuting arms shipments to Berber rebels fighting Qaddafi’s forces in the highlands south of Tripoli, the French daily Le Figaro reported yesterday.
According to the paper, which said it had seen a secret intelligence memo and talked to well-placed officials, the air drops are designed to help rebel fighters encircle Tripoli and encourage a popular revolt in the city itself.
French officials could not immediately confirm or deny the report.
The crates hold assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the paper said, and also European-made Milan anti-tank missiles, the paper said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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