Ousting of Gaddafi a ‘tragedy so far’ – UK’s Boris Johnson after Libya visit

Source:  Africanews
August 25 2017

Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary has described as a ‘tragedy’ the ouster of former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Johnson during the week became the first top western diplomat to visit the war ravaged north African nation. He told the BBC that western powers ‘were way over-optimistic’ about Libya’s future post-Gaddafi.

Stressing that Libya was now more divided than into two main blocs as is currently being projected, he said the country was technically lawless in most parts.

Anarchy

There’s been a complete breakdown of government authority – Libya is not in a state of civil war – it would be more accurate to describe it as in a state of anarchy

“There is no government authority who runs the country and there are large parts of it where there is no government at all,” he is quoted to have said.

He met the major factions in the current political and security crisis and tasked them to put the interest of the Libyan people first. He first met Tripoli-based United Nations-backed government led by Fayez Al-Sarraj before holding talks with Benghazi based Halifa Haftar.

Related:  Why regime change in Libya?