Hague: 'Blame Me For Bungled Libya Mission' - Sky News

6:32pm UK, Monday March 07, 2011

Glen Oglaza, political correspondent

William Hague has said he takes "full ministerial responsibility" for the bungled diplomatic mission in eastern Libya which resulted in SAS troopers and a "junior diplomat" being captured by armed rebels.

To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your browser.

Please download Flash from the Adobe download website.

The team was finally freed and left Libya on Sunday evening on board HMS Cumberland.

It was an operation that descended into farce, but could just as easily have ended in tragedy.

The Foreign Secretary confirmed to the Commons that he had authorised the "dispatch of a small British diplomatic team" to "initiate contacts with the opposition" and "to assess the scope for closer diplomatic dialogue".

"They were withdrawn yesterday after a serious misunderstanding about their role, leading to their temporary detention," he told MPs.

"However, this situation is resolved and they were able to meet the council president."

Mr Hague said he had acted on military advice, and that the Prime Minister was "aware" of the operation.

But he looked increasingly beleaguered as he was asked why there had been insufficient communication with Libyan rebel leaders in advance of the operation and why a diplomatic mission, if that is what it was, didn't simply fly into Benghazi rather than land in a helicopter in the desert with the SAS for protection.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander wondered how Mr Hague would welcome new neighbours in his street: "Would he ring their front doorbell to say hello, or climb over their back garden fence?"

And former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell described the operation as "ill-conceived, poorly planned and embarrassingly executed".

It is entirely normal for the Foreign Office and MI6 to try and establish communication with rebel forces. What is abnormal is that they failed to let them know they were coming.

Sky's security editor Sam Kiley

Labour's Denis MacShane, former Europe minister, says it was a fantasy to believe, as Mr Hague had claimed, that Britain was leading the way in the international response to the Libyan crisis.

He also wanted to know if Mr Hague had "considered his position" after what Mr Alexander had characterised as "serial bungling".

Mr Hague told MPs that a no-fly zone might indeed be necessary, despite reservations from many MPs - among them Colonel Bob Stewart who commanded the Cheshire Regiment in Bosnia - that such no-fly zones had not worked in past conflicts.

He said such a policy would require three conditions: That there was a "demonstrable need, a clear legal basis" and, crucially, "regional support".

Mr Hague also told the Commons that the Government plans to send another diplomatic mission to Eastern Libya to talk to rebel leaders, despite the embarrassment of the last one which handed a propaganda coup to Colonel Gaddafi and his claims that the rebellion is being instigated by foreigners.

But the Foreign Secretary's statement was also notable for what it did NOT tell us: Was the "junior diplomat" in reality a British intelligence officer sent, with the SAS, to gather information? What were the SAS Rules of Engagement, in other words, what were they to do if they came under attack? Did the Prime Minister personally give the go-ahead or was it all Mr Hague's own work? And why were communications with rebel leaders so badly handled?