U.K.-Libya unravel links

Press, 28 April 1984, Page 10

U.K.-Libya unravel links

NZPA-Reuter London Britain and Libya are unravelling their embittered diplomatic links as a 10-day police siege at the Libyan Embassy in London draws steadily to a close. Wives and children of the diplomats on both sides returned home yesterday. The diplomats themselves are due to go this week-end. Britain, meanwhile, prepared to bury Yvonne Fletcher, the 25-year-old policewoman killed by gunfire last week outside the Libyan Embassy, officially called The People's Bureau.

The police believe the sub-machine-gun which killed her is at London’s Heathrow airport in diplomatic baggage due to be flown to Libya.

The man who fired it from an embassy window into a demonstration by Libyan dissidents is still in the besieged People’s Bureau, which no-one has left for the last 10 days.

The British Government has promised safe passage to all in the building, diplomats and non-diplomats alike. The removal of 18 sacks

of baggage from the embassy in St James’ Square under the supervision of Saudi Arabian, Syrian and Turkish diplomats left the British police with no serious hope of finding even the weapon that killed the policewoman.

Her funeral was due to take place early this morning (NJZ. time) beneath the soaring fourteenth century spire of Salisbury Cathedral near her home village of Semley in south-west England.

The Home Secretary, Mr Leon Brittan, who is the

Cabinet Minister responsible for law enforcement and the man in charge of the embassy siege, will represent the Government.

The families of Libyan and British diplomats left each other’s capitals yesterday after a tense five-hour delay which prompted an angry protest from the British Government.

A British spokesman accused the Libyans of causing “totally unnecessary obstruction” to the departure of the 30 Britons.

According to officials at London’s Heathrow airport,

a Libyan plane with 137 officials and embassy dependants was prevented from leaving until word was recieved that the British families had taken off from Tripoli. Richard Luce, a junior Minister at the Foreign Office, was at Gatwick Airport, south of London, to welcome the arriving families yesterday. They included Julia Miles, wife of the British Ambassador, Mr Oliver Miles, who led the wives and children out of Tripoli defiantly singing “Rule Britannia.”