Theresa May!
One British citizen with a Libyan background who was placed on a control order – effectively house arrest – because of fears that he would join militant groups in Iraq said he was "shocked" that he was able to travel to Libya in 2011 shortly after his control order was lifted.
"I was allowed to go, no questions asked," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
He said he had met several other British-Libyans in London who also had control orders lifted in 2011 as the war against Gaddafi intensified, with the UK, France and the US carrying out air strikes and deploying special forces soldiers in support of the rebels.
"They didn't have passports, they were looking for fakes or a way to smuggle themselves across," said the source.
But within days of their control orders being lifted, British authorities returned their passports, he said.
"These were old school LIFG guys, they [the British authorities] knew what they were doing," he said, referring to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an anti-Gaddafi Islamist militant group formed in 1990 by Libyan veterans of the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan which was considered a terrorist organisation with links to al-Qaeda by the UK government.
EXCLUSIVE: UK government helped Mancunian Libyans join rebel groups in Libya, say former fighters https://t.co/50g7Wxiy4m pic.twitter.com/KXGcFCapKO
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) 25 May 2017
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