By IRNA,
London : The British Foreign Office is urging UK nationals to leave Libya unless they have a pressing need to stay following the killing of scores of protesters in recent days.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he spoke by telephone to Saif Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadafi, on Sunday, expressing “alarm at reports of large numbers of people being killed or attacked by Libyan security forces.”
Hague also said that the travel advice has been updated to recommend against all but essential travel to Libya.
“All those British Nationals without a pressing need to remain in the country should leave by commercial means if it is safe to do so,” he said.
“The British Embassy in Libya is in contact with the British Community through our consular warden network and is providing consular assistance and advice,” he added.
Consular staff have been reportedly helping some of the estimated 50 UK nationals in eastern Libya, where the unrest has been focused, to move to safer areas over the past few days. Around 3,500 British ex-pats are thought to be in the country, most of them in Tripoli.
Hague also warned Gadafi of global disapproval of the regime’s actions, saying the use of sniper fire, automatic weapons and heavy artillery against unarmed protesters is ‘dreadful and horrifying’ and would result in world-wide condemnation.
But Britain has been left in another embarrassing position of approving the sale of a wide range of crowd control munitions for use against civilians to Libya as well as Bahrain, where protests have also resulted in killings.
According to the latest official figures, export licences increased significantly to Libya over the first nine months of last year, rising to more than £200m.
The Foreign Office’s annual human rights report says Britain has set up training programs for Libyan police forces ‘to use modern evidence-gathering techniques, which meet proper judicial standards’.
Prime Minister David Cameron is also following the escalating situation in Libya closely and is “gravely concerned by reports of escalating violence and large numbers of civilian deaths,’ his spokesman said.
“Such repression is unacceptable, counter-productive and wrong. The Libyan Government must listen to the views of its people and respond to them,’ the spokesman said.
It was also revealed that Cameron spoke with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on Sunday night, assuring him of Britain’s support for the process of ‘national dialogue’ which he initiated after several days of protests last week.
‘The Prime Minister stressed the importance of responding to peaceful protest through reform, not repression. The violence of previous days had been deeply concerning,’ the spokesman said.