Libyan Faction Says it Doesn't Want British Ground Troops to Fight Islamic State
New deputy prime minister says foreign boots on Libyan soil could offend national pride
By Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent
6:32PM GMT 21 Jan 2016
A senior figure in Libya's new unity government has warned that the country may be unwilling to accept British troops in its fight against Isil's growing presence.
Ahmed Mateeq, the newly appointed deputy prime minster, said that Libya "did not need" to take up the offer of from Britain of 1,000 soldiers to train Libyan troops.
His warning - issued just days after the formation of a unity government designed to end 18 months of civil war - may come as a blow to the West, which believes that Libya may struggle to defeat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) without such outside help.
Mr Mateeq said that while Western help was welcome in terms of "logistical and technical support", most Libyans would not accept the presence of foreign troops on their soil.
"This is highly sensitive for Libyans and we prefer to look after the Libyan soil ourselves," he told the Telegraph. "At the moment I don't think we could accept that, although we do view the British as our friends and allies."
Mr Mateeq is part of a 32-minister government set up this week after more than a year of often fractious negotiations brokered by Martin Kobler, a tough German diplomat who heads the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.
It replaces two rival administrations, one based in Tripoli and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk, whose armed struggle for power over the last 18 months has created a security vacuum that Isil has taken advantage of.
As the Telegraph reported earlier this week, up to 3,000 Isil fighters are now resident in the the late Colonel Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, where they have received a warm welcome from embittered ex-Gaddafi loyalists. Libyan security forces in the nearby city of Misrata fought them earlier this year, but eventually pulled out.
Mr Mateeq said Libya's different political factions were now united on the need to unite to fight the growing Isil presence in Sirte, which the terror group's high command see as a possible bolt hole should their strongholds in Iraq and Syria be over-run.
"If all Libyans work together to fight Isil, we can give an example to the whole world that they can be defeated by Libyans," he added.
However, while Western diplomats do not query the Libyan security forces' willingness to fight, they query whether what is in effect an array of independent armed groups can be forged into an effective unified force without some foreign military presence co-ordinating at close hand on the ground.
Contrary to Mr Mateeq's remarks, diplomats close to the UN negotiations on the new unity government said last weekend that they thought the new unity government was likely to accept the British offer, as long as the troops were confined to a training role.
The British offer is part of a combined military assistance package that would also include 5,000 Italian troops, as well as logistics and intelligence help. US and British special forces are already believed to be on the ground on secret missions in Libya.
A previous British training arrangement for Libyan troops ended in chaos two years ago when Libyan soldiers stationed at Bassingbourn Barracks were accused of sexual assault. Diplomats say that with hindsight, the mission should have been carried out on Libyan rather than UK soil.
By Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent
6:32PM GMT 21 Jan 2016
A senior figure in Libya's new unity government has warned that the country may be unwilling to accept British troops in its fight against Isil's growing presence.
Ahmed Mateeq, the newly appointed deputy prime minster, said that Libya "did not need" to take up the offer of from Britain of 1,000 soldiers to train Libyan troops.
His warning - issued just days after the formation of a unity government designed to end 18 months of civil war - may come as a blow to the West, which believes that Libya may struggle to defeat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) without such outside help.
Mr Mateeq said that while Western help was welcome in terms of "logistical and technical support", most Libyans would not accept the presence of foreign troops on their soil.
"This is highly sensitive for Libyans and we prefer to look after the Libyan soil ourselves," he told the Telegraph. "At the moment I don't think we could accept that, although we do view the British as our friends and allies."
Mr Mateeq is part of a 32-minister government set up this week after more than a year of often fractious negotiations brokered by Martin Kobler, a tough German diplomat who heads the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.
It replaces two rival administrations, one based in Tripoli and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk, whose armed struggle for power over the last 18 months has created a security vacuum that Isil has taken advantage of.
As the Telegraph reported earlier this week, up to 3,000 Isil fighters are now resident in the the late Colonel Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, where they have received a warm welcome from embittered ex-Gaddafi loyalists. Libyan security forces in the nearby city of Misrata fought them earlier this year, but eventually pulled out.
Mr Mateeq said Libya's different political factions were now united on the need to unite to fight the growing Isil presence in Sirte, which the terror group's high command see as a possible bolt hole should their strongholds in Iraq and Syria be over-run.
"If all Libyans work together to fight Isil, we can give an example to the whole world that they can be defeated by Libyans," he added.
However, while Western diplomats do not query the Libyan security forces' willingness to fight, they query whether what is in effect an array of independent armed groups can be forged into an effective unified force without some foreign military presence co-ordinating at close hand on the ground.
Contrary to Mr Mateeq's remarks, diplomats close to the UN negotiations on the new unity government said last weekend that they thought the new unity government was likely to accept the British offer, as long as the troops were confined to a training role.
The British offer is part of a combined military assistance package that would also include 5,000 Italian troops, as well as logistics and intelligence help. US and British special forces are already believed to be on the ground on secret missions in Libya.
A previous British training arrangement for Libyan troops ended in chaos two years ago when Libyan soldiers stationed at Bassingbourn Barracks were accused of sexual assault. Diplomats say that with hindsight, the mission should have been carried out on Libyan rather than UK soil.
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