William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, blamed “a serious misunderstanding” for a botched military operation to send a diplomatic team into eastern Libya, as he faced accusations of “serial bungling”.
After telling MPs that he accepted “full ministerial responsibility” for the incident, Mr Hague made clear that he acted on “military advice” before signing off on the operation, and left “the timing and details” to professionals.
The secret mission to contact rebel leaders in Benghazi came unstuck after the team of six Special Air Service soldiers and two Foreign Office officials – some of whom landed at night by helicopter – were apprehended by armed Libyan farmhands.
Amid signs of a blame game in Westminster, Mr Hague insisted the security measures were “not unusual” and stressed that the diplomats were eventually able to speak to a Libyan opposition leader before returning to the UK.
However, the public exposure and ignominious fate of the top-secret operation will be a blow to the prestige of ministers and security officials.
It followed what critics see as a troubled period for diplomacy. Britain struggled to charter aircraft to pick up UK nationals in Libya and David Cameron appeared overhasty in calling for a no-fly zone
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One Labour MP lambasted the clandestine operation as “farcical”. Sir Menzies Campbell, former Liberal Democrat leader, said the mission was “ill-conceived, poorly planned and embarrassingly executed”. Labour said it could have ended in tragedy.
Mr Hague made clear that the next diplomatic party sent to eastern Libya would embark on “a different basis”. Officials privately laid blame on a misunderstanding with, and between, Libyan rebel groups, saying not all leaders may have been aware that the delegation had been invited.
Downing Street emphasised that the final clearance for the plan was given by the foreign secretary. No minister has confirmed that they were aware the diplomatic team would be brought in by helicopter.
Mr Hague said David Cameron and other ministers were “aware” of efforts to make contact with opposition groups.
“Ministers must have confidence in their judgments as I do and must take full ministerial responsibility for all their actions,” he told the Commons. “Of course the prime minister and other colleagues were aware that we would attempt to put a diplomatic team into eastern Libya.”
Oliver Miles, the former ambassador to Libya, said the “bizarre” operation was unnecessary. “The phone lines to the country still work so there’s still quite a lot of information there if you’re prepared to dredge for it,” he said. “I’m glad that this particular episode seems to have ended in farce rather than tragedy.”
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