Research: Britain and Libya, a challenging relationship: from Qaddafi’s rise to the diplomatic rupture (1969-1984)
On September 1, 1969, the Kingdom of Libya, a state born in the aftermath of the Second World War whose formation was backed by Britain and the United States, ceased to exist in a matter of hours. The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the organisation of military officers that took over the country, demonstrated its determination in transforming Libya into an independent state “free at last” from external influence. From strategic partners to clear foes, the relationship between Libya and the United Kingdom took a turn for the worse once the RCC’s leader, Muammar Qaddafi, rose to power. Through his alignment with Nasser’s Pan-Arabism and worldview, the Libyan Colonel began shaping the North African country’s foreign and internal policy in direct opposition to Western imperialism and to the previous existing partnerships with the UK and the US. Just as these developments were being assessed by the British Foreign Office, the newly established Libyan government immediately requested the retreat of British and American troops from the bases of El-Adem and Wheelus Air, signalling the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between the West and Libya. From that point on, as the British Foreign Office tried to establish a new relationship with Qaddafi’s Libya, tensions continued to rise with the nationalization of BP assets in December 1971 marking yet again a clear shift in the Libyan foreign policy aimed at restraining external influence. Then, through the discovery of Qaddafi’s support for the PIRA the relations between London and Tripoli increasingly deteriorated. As a matter of fact, verbal and material support from the Colonel’s regime to the Provisionals became the greatest obstacle in the rapprochement between the former partners. From 1977 onwards, as Libya renamed itself the Arab Jamahiriya (state of the masses), Qaddafi’s foreign policy became even more aggressive. This shift was marked by the beginning of a campaign against Libyan dissidents living abroad, which escalated into violence in the following years, reaching its peak in 1980. As these developments were influencing the reaction of multiple western governments, the rise to power of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher intensified the animosity existing between Libya and the West. This political confrontation became even more severe after the birth of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) in October 1981, a movement of Libyan dissidents living abroad and operating to remove Qaddafi from power. These circumstances fuelled the confrontation between Libya and the United Kingdom as Colonel Qaddafi accused Britain of supporting dissidents abroad. Within this context, an anti-Qaddafi demonstration organised by the NFSL on the 17th of April 1984 in front of the Libyan People’s Bureau in London resulted in the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher by Libyan agents. This event, coupled with Libya’s support for terrorism led to the diplomatic rupture between the two countries and opened a new chapter in the already strained Anglo-Libyan relationship. Accordingly, this study aims to understand the deep causes of the tense relationship between Libya and the United Kingdom by analysing the British perspective and its transformation through the years, especially relating to the Libyan support for the PIRA and to the role played by the Libyan dissident movement in influencing this diplomatic relationship. In addition to this, through the help of the diplomatic archives of other key European countries like Italy, the project aims to look at the evolution of Anglo-Libyan relations from multiple point of views. Moreover, by making use of the documents available at the time of writing, this study aims to understand whether the rise of Margaret Thatcher to the Cabinet Office played a role in complicating the relationship between the United Kingdom and Libya.