Libya (London Conference)

Bob Ainsworth Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Certainly there would be a big difference between those positions. My hon. Friend should bear in mind what I said earlier, and what the Prime Minister said, about our interpretation of Security Council resolution 1973—that it does not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance for those protecting civilians in certain circumstances. This is very much about protecting civilians. It is not about weapons that would be used primarily for attack, and it is certainly not about a general arming of one side in the conflict. So yes, there is a clear distinction between those actions.

[Mr Bob Ainsworth (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

As the Foreign Secretary has acknowledged, the issue of arming the insurgent groups has three dimensions. The first is legality, the second is our shallow knowledge of all the people involved in those insurgencies, and the third is the impact on the international community, which my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Alexander) persuaded the Foreign Secretary to discuss. Can he give some indication of the feedback that he has received from different partners in this operation about their attitude to the arming of the insurgent groups?

[Mr Hague]

I agree that there are those three dimensions, but I believe that it is for other countries to state their positions. I do not think that it would be right for me to go through a checklist of countries and announce any attitudes that they have expressed to Her Majesty’s Government in private—I do not think that that would be very diplomatic—and I therefore fear that I cannot give the right hon. Gentleman the information that he has requested. I can say, however, that although there is a variety of views on the issue, all the nations involved in the conference are of the same mind. That was made clear during the press conference that I held with the Prime Minister of Qatar last night. However those nations interpret the resolutions, it is not their policy at this moment to engage in arming particular groups in Libya. I believe that there is an international consensus on that.