UK says Libya turned into potential security threat

PanARMENIAN.Net - Libya's collapse since the overthrow of Colonel Moammar Gaddafi has turned it into a potential security threat to the UK, the Foreign Affairs Committee said, according to BBC News.

The group of MPs warned that fighting in Libya has allowed Islamic State (IS) extremists to become influential there.

Illegal migration from Libya could help IS to stage attacks in Europe, MPs say. Also, the International Development Committee said youth unemployment in developing countries may cause unrest that could lead to a rise in extremism.

Foreign Office said it was working closely with British allies and the United Nations to "help deliver a lasting political settlement that will bring an end to the violence" in Libya.

Numerous militias each govern their own patches of territory in Libya, with successive governments struggling to exercise control.

The Foreign Affairs Committee said there was a "particular responsibility" on the UK to help Libya "repair itself" and restore a stable government.

The UK supported anti-Gaddafi rebels with air strikes during the struggle to end his regime. The Libyan leader was eventually killed in in October 2011 but subsequent attempts at establishing a democratic government have failed to bring stability.

"The fact that [IS] appears to have taken advantage of the chaos in Libya to establish itself there is a security concern reaching beyond Libya, and is further motivation for the international community to provide assistance," the committee said.

"Illegal migration through and from Libya is undoubtedly a major concern, not least because of a potential security threat from terrorists who could use this means to travel to Europe to conduct attacks."

Rory Stewart, the Conservative chairman of the Defense Select Committee, said: "I am afraid in a more dangerous world, you have to spend more on defense, and in the long run that's in your interest. Because an unstable world in which refugees are spilling across into the Mediterranean, when 20,000 foreign fighters are turning up with [Islamic State,], this is a world which is really worrying."

Also, a new parliamentary report by the International Development Committee has warned that widespread youth unemployment will be a "ticking timebomb" in global nations over the next 10 years, and could lead to social and political unrest,

Its report said that "one of the greatest global problems" of the coming decade would be caused by a shortage of full-time jobs and the difficulty that rapidly-increasing populations of young people will face in earning a livelihood.

It called on the government to address the issue through its aid spending.