The reputation of the Libyan government has been "stained" by the manner of Gaddafi's killing, says Hammond
By Joseph Willits
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As the debate about Gaddafi's death continues, Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond has said that the Libyan government's "reputation in the international community is a little bit stained" after Gaddafi's killing on Friday.
His comments, on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show follow remarks made by Libya's Prime Minister, Mahmoud Jibril who told the BBC yesterday that "at the personal level I wish he was alive. I want to know why he did this to the Libyan people".
Hammond echoed some of Jibril's remarks upon being asked whether he felt "queasy" about the manner of Gaddafi's killing, saying the British government "would have liked to see Gaddafi going on trial at the International Criminal Court". The way in which Gaddafi was killed "is certainly not the way we do things" he said, and "certainly not the way we would have liked it to happen".
Hammond spoke of the need for Gaddafi to personally "answer for his misdeeds". On trial at the Hague, Gaddafi would have been held accountable for atrocities committed in Libya, and for the "many acts of terrorism that he supported and perpetrated which we in Britain have a disproportionate number of victims", namely Lockerbie and the killing of PC Yvonne Fletcher.
Human rights group, Human Rights Watch has called upon the NTC to open "an independent and impartial investigation with international participation" into the deaths of Gaddafi and his son, Mutassim. Their Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson has said that "finding out how they died matters. It will set the tone for whether the new Libya will be ruled by law or by summary violence". The report itself, suggesting "that they might have been executed after being detained" may also raise questions of possible war crime under international law.
On the future of Libya, Hammond said that the "international community does have some ongoing responsibility" in the rebuilding of Libya, and this "will certainly mean commitment to help them with their reconstruction effort". However, NATO's military campaign, he said, was "executed with incredible professionalism by UK and other armed forces has carefully avoided damage to the infrastructure."
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