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This week at the Foreign Office

A look at the work of the Foreign Office and its embassies overseas this week.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This week the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary chaired meetings of the National Security Council to discuss the situation in Libya as the Qadhafi regime began to lose control of Tripoli.

British Ambassador to Jordan Peter Millett and British Ambassador to the Netherlands Paul Arkwright discussed Libya in their latest blog posts

On Syria the UK called for an end to violence in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council. Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne welcomed the strong resolution that followed saying that the brutal repression must stop.

Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham expressed concern after Iran announced that it has started to transfer centrifuges to the Fordow plant at Qom in order to triple its capacity to produce 20% enriched uranium.

The Minister for Africa welcomed President Bashir’s announcement of a two week ceasefire in Southern Kordofan state and called on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to follow suit.

The UK Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Mark Sedwill visited New Zealand and Australia to discuss our common national security issues regarding Afghanistan.

And today the Foreign Secretary condemned the attack on a UN building in Abuja, Nigeria.

We continue to update our travel advice for British nationals who may be affected by Hurricane Irene.

Published 26 August 2011