No 10 chief of staff accompanied Libyan militiaman to Foreign Office meeting

Source: The Guardian

No 10 chief of staff accompanied Libyan militiaman to Foreign Office meeting

Exclusive: Mark Fullbrook said to have acted as Fathi Bashagha’s ‘PR adviser’, as officials were lobbied on foreign policy

Rowena Mason and Patrick Wintour
Mon 17 Oct 2022 20.41 BST
Last modified on Mon 17 Oct 2022 21.42 BST

Mark Fullbrook, the No 10 chief of staff, accompanied a controversial Libyan politician involved in an attempted military coup to a meeting in the Foreign Office to lobby officials on foreign policy, it has emerged, raising further questions over his influence.

Labour has said Fullbrook’s position as Liz Truss’s most senior official is “untenable” after it was revealed that he facilitated unofficial meetings in June with senior cabinet ministers for Fathi Bashagha, a Libyan politician. Bashagha, who is seeking international support as a rival prime minister, has links to the Russian Wagner Group and a military strongman in the east of the country.

The Guardian has now established that Fullbrook also accompanied Bashagha on a visit to the UK Foreign Office on the same trip to London, acting as his “PR adviser”. Truss was foreign secretary at the time.

Just one month earlier, Bashagha had unsuccessfully attempted to seize power in Tripoli by force backed by a militia called the eighth brigade, against the UN-backed government.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/17/no-10-chief-of-staff-accompanied-libyan-militiaman-to-foreign-office-meeting