Foreign Secretary welcomes the formation of a transitional government in Libya
Foreign Secretary William Hague: "This represents a real opportunity to achieve justice for some of the wrongs committed by the Qadhafi regime, for Britain as well as the people of Libya."
Speaking today the Foreign Secretary said:
“The formation of a transitional government, within the 30-day timeframe set out in the NTC’s plans, is an important moment for Libya. Just three days after the arrest of Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, it shows that Libya is moving towards being an open, democratic State based on the rule of law. I look forward to working with the Transitional Government as it addresses a number of challenges including stabilising the country; ensuring law and order; restarting the economy; preparing for elections and building a state based on human rights. The UK will be a strong partner for Libya in this work.
“This represents a real opportunity to achieve justice for some of the wrongs committed by the Qadhafi regime, for Britain as well as the people of Libya. We will ask the new Libyan Government to support continuing police investigations into the killing of WPC Fletcher and into the Lockerbie bombing and we will work for reconciliation following Qadhafi’s past support for IRA terrorism. The Prime Minister and I have regularly raised these issues with the NTC’s leadership and have received assurances about their future co-operation”.