Britain and Libya remain poles apart

Press, 21 April 1984, Page 10

Britain and Libya remain poles apart

NZPA-Reuter London Britain and Libya were searching early today for a way to end the stalemate at the Libyan Embassy in London, but their publiclystated positions remained far apart. Both countries emphasised the hope yesterday that the affair could be closed peacefully, and talks in Tripoli between the British Ambassador and the Libyan Foreign Minister were described as cordial. Britain has stood by its dertiand to search the embassy and question those inside. Libya has rejected that. The crisis erupted on Tuesday when a British policewoman was fatally shot and 10 opponents of the ’Libyan regime wounded in a burst of gunfire during a demonstration outside the embassy. Britain says that the shots came from an embassy window. Since the shooting the surrounding area has been closed off and police marksmen have held the mission in their sights, trapping 20 to 30 people inside. The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, interviewed on American television, demanded bluntly that the police should be

withdrawn from the embassy area immediately. He blamed the British police and the demonstrators for the policewoman’s death. “The British Government committed this attack and the British Government is responsible for whatever happens,” he said. Libya's Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Abdel-Salam Tureiki, met the British ambassador, Mr Oliver Miles, in Tripoli yesterday to discuss the crisis. The British Foreign Office said that Mr Miles had put forward several Eoints and that those were eing considered. More diplomatic contacts were going on in London. Mr Tureiki said on Libyan radio that the British demand to search the embassy was unacceptable. “I do not think that the British will insist on such a request,” he said. At the centre of the crisis is the question of diplomatic immunity. International rules bar Britain from searching the embassy without Libyan permission and diplomats are similarly safe from prosecution unless their Government waives immunity. The British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher,

returned yesterday from a three-day visit to Portugal and went to her official country residence at Chequers, west of London, for the Easter holiday weekend. A spokesman said that Mrs Thatcher would not take over the handling of the siege, which is being coordinated by the Home Secretary, Mr Leon Brittan. Telephone contact has been maintained with those inside, and parcels of food, prepared according to Islamic custom, have been delivered regularly.