Blair leaves ‘transformed’ Libya
Tony Blair has continued his week-long tour of Africa, as he uses his final weeks as prime minister to draw attention to climate change, aid and fairer trade in Africa.
Mr Blair will meet with leaders in Sierra Leone after holding “positive” talks with Libya’s colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The prime minister will also meet with leaders in Liberia and South Africa as he tours the continent ahead of international summits in June.
Mr Blair met with Colonel Gaddafi yesterday, for the first face-to-face talks since he visited Libya in 2004.
The prime minister said the relations between Libya and the UK had been “transformed” during his tenure at Number 10.
The two leaders agreed Scotland Yard officers will travel to Libya to investigate the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher, who was murdered outside the Libyan embassy in 1984. Mr Blair also heard BP signed a £450 million exploration deal in a return to the country.
Libya’s changing international position could provide a precedent for improving relations with Iran, Mr Blair remarked.
He will next meet with Sierra Leone’s president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah before holding talks with Liberia’s president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Mr Blair told reporters he will remain interested in Africa after he leaves Number 10, increasingly speculation he will campaign internationally to promote Africa.
Downing Street justified Mr Blair’s farewell tour, which has been criticised as a vanity trip by his opponents. His official spokesman said it would show world leaders the need to re-engage with Africa as a whole and maintain the momentum of the G8 2005.
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