Britain’s leading foreign affairs think tank has cancelled a seminar due to be held next week in London after a newspaper revealed that one of the participants, a Libyan, was one of the suspects in the killing of a policewoman outside the Libyan embassy in 1984.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper said last month that Ibrahim Al Mabrouk had been allowed to return to Britain as part of the "inclusive" foreign policy of Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, who reportedly has “diplomatic relations with rogue states such as Libya.”
According to the paper, Mabrouk was part of a four-man group that had been expelled after Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead during a protest.
The Royal Institute for International Affairs declined to say why the planned seminar will not take place, insisting that it had "never been confirmed," said the paper.
Rosemary Hollis, head of the Middle East unit, said "in principal we remain enthusiastic about an exchange of views, but we will not be holding the meeting as originally mooted."
Al Mabrouk, who was alleged to have been under the control of Libyan intelligence, was part of the group that was believed to have given orders to open fire on the protesters.
Although no one has ever been prosecuted for Fletcher's murder, the Libyan authorities agreed to cooperate with a Scotland Yard inquiry, said the paper.
A team of Scotland Yard officials recently visited Libya.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office told the paper that "Chatham House's decision had nothing to do with the Foreign Office. Al Mabrouk is free to apply for a visa to visit the United Kingdom and any application from him will be dealt with in accordance with the usual immigration rules."
Police said Al Mabrouk was one of those they wanted to interview.
"He was a member of the committee in charge of running the embassy," a police source told the paper – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
