LONDON – Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib visited the spot on Friday where British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher was shot during a siege at the Libyan embassy in 1984 and left a wreath at a memorial commemorating the 25-year-old’s death.
Keib met Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday, who announced that a team of British police would go to Libya to further investigate Fletcher’s death, for which no one has been convicted.
The Libyan prime minister drove up to the memorial in St James’s Square in central London in a black Range Rover and crossed the square in silence, flanked by members of the Libyan delegation currently in the British capital.
The former electrical engineer laid a wreath of white roses and carnations slowly and solemnly in the centre of the memorial, before standing up and giving a short, respectful bow towards the small stone memorial. He made no comment to waiting reporters.
Fletcher died after being hit by a shot fired from the embassy during a demonstration against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
After an 11-day siege, 30 Libyans in the embassy were deported, severing diplomatic relations between Libya and Britain until 1999.
Cameron told reporters on Thursday that the police team visit to Libya was a “really positive step forward.”
Keib told Cameron during their meeting: “The Fletcher case is a case that is close to my heart personally. I had friends who were demonstrating that day next to the embassy.
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“It is a sad story. It is very unfortunate that it has anything to do with the Libyan people.
“I am here to tell you that we will work very closely together to resolve anything related to that issue.”
Hopes of finding the killer were raised following the revolution which toppled Gaddafi last year.
But so far, plans to send a police team to Libya have been frustrated by a failure to secure approval from local authorities.
Commander Richard Walton, head of the London police force’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have never lost our resolve to solve this murder and achieve justice for Yvonne’s family.”
