IN seeking to reward Colonel Gaddafi for turning away from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Tony Blair must not allow British weapons to become part of the terror and destruction that Gaddafi continues to spread across his own continent.
Libya is one of Africa's most prolific and unscrupulous arms dealers. It has sold weapons that have fuelled some of the continent's worst conflicts. Despite this record Blair is reportedly pushing for a lifting of the EU arms embargo so that British companies can once again sell weapons direct to Libya.
Unlike with terrorism or WMD, Colonel Gaddafi has shown no signs of cleaning up his act on arms exports. As recently as 2003 Gaddafi sold a plane full of weapons to indicted war criminal Charles Taylor of Liberia, in breach of the UN arms embargo.
The fact that the terror wreaked by Gaddafi's conventional weapons does not reach our shores, does not justify turning a blind eye to the reality of the suffering it creates.Tony Blair must not allow British weapons to be sold to him.
Andrea Hill,
Oxfam Campaigns Yorkshire,
Park Square East, Leeds.
Updated: 11:58 Saturday, March 27, 2004
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