Clarke warns UK could face new Lockerbie-style attack if Gaddafi remains in power
March 26th, 2011 - 2:29 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar 26 (ANI): British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has stepped up pressure on the government to depose Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by warning that the Libyan dictator could organise a Lockerbie-style attack in revenge for London’s role in the enforcement of the UN resolution, if he manages to survive all efforts to oust him from power.
“We do have one particular interest in the Maghreb (the western region of North Africa), which is Lockerbie. The British people have reason to remember the curse of Gaddafi - Gaddafi back in power, the old Gaddafi looking for revenge, we have a real interest in preventing that,” The Guardian quoted Clarke, as saying.
His remarks suggest that British ministers now acknowledge the fact that there is a direct security interest in Gaddafi’s removal in the light of Libya’s involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 259 people on Pan Am flight 103, the paper said.
He also admitted that the British government has little idea how long the conflict will last.
“I am not in the Foreign Office, fortunately, so I am not too worried by my remarks. But I am still not totally convinced anyone knows where we are going now,” he added.
His remarks came as a Guardian ICM poll showed that 42 percent people oppose British involvement in the military action in Libya, compared with 36 percent who favour it. (ANI)
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