UK MPs slam Cameroon over Libya chaos

TRIPOLI — A UK parliamentary report has found that the intervention by Britain and France to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 directly led to the rise of the Islamic State in the region, BBC reports.

Then UK prime minister David Cameron particularly came in for criticism from the report by the foreign affairs committee who accused him of launching an air campaign based on inaccurate information. The committee suggested that Cameron along with France’s intervention worsened the crisis in Libya as it resulted in the rise of the so-called Islamic State.

The campaign of air and missile strikes against Gaddafi’s forces came after he threatened to attack the rebel held city of Benghazi.

Libya, however, descended into political violence after Gaddafi was overthrown, with the emergence of hundreds of warring militias, with the Islamic State also know as Isil and Daesh rising to prominence. “The possibility that militant extremist groups would attempt to benefit from the rebellion should not have been the preserve of hindsight. UK strategy was founded on erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding of the evidence,” the committee said.

Libya’s internationally recognised parliament recently voted no confidence in a UN-backed unity government, in a blow to efforts to end the country’s political chaos. The government of National Accord led by Sarraj is struggling to assert its authority in Libya.

The north African country descended into chaos after the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed Gaddafi, with rival authorities vying for control of the country. More than 2.4 million people in Libya are in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN said.

Barack Obama says the biggest mistake of his presidency was the lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader.

Reflecting on his legacy in a Fox News interview aired on Sunday, Obama said his “worst mistake” was “probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya.” — FP