Japan and the Middle East

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can certainly make that point. It is a very strong point. We talk about pressurising the regime, but we also want to isolate it. Anyone around or thinking of supporting Gaddafi should be thinking about the long arm of the law, its long reach and its long memory, and I think that the International Criminal Court is very helpful in that regard.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Learning from previous no-fly zones, will the Prime Minister confirm that with hindsight it was wrong in Bosnia to have insisted on an equality of sanctions and to have put in place rules of engagement that were not specific enough about helicopters and trade planes?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes a point. There are many lessons to learn from all stages of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, perhaps Bosnia in particular. One can make all sorts of arguments about whether the arms embargo should have been lifted, or whether there should have been tougher action earlier against the Serbs, but the most important lesson was that the international community has to be engaged and decisive at an earlier stage. That is the lesson that we should learn.