The Embassy of Libya in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Libya also maintains a Consular & Cultural Affairs Section at 61-62 Ennismore Gardens,

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancien ...

and a Medical Office at 22 Red Lion Street, Bloomsbury. The former embassy which was named as Libyan People's Bureau was formerly located in the

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...

district and was frequently targeted by protesters opposed to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. On 17 April 1984, shots were fired from the embassy towards protesters on

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or f ...

, injuring ten and killing a British police officer,

Yvonne Fletcher The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to m ...

. With the subsequent siege of the embassy by armed police and expelling of those inside, diplomatic relations with Libya were broken off and were not resumed until 1999, whereupon the embassy was moved to its current location in

. The embassy was again the focus of attention in 2011 during the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

. There were several protests in the early part of the year against the Gaddafi government's crackdown on protesters in Benghazi, culminating in the occupation of the embassy's roof and the swapping of the flag with that of the

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council of Libya ( ar, المجلس الوطني الإنتقالي '), sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, was the ''de facto'' government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War ...

(now the current Libyan flag). In July of that year the British government expelled the existing embassy staff and formally recognised the NTC as the sole legitimate authority in Libya.

Gallery

File:Embassy_of_Libya_in_London_2.jpg, Plaque outside the embassy File:Libyan Peoples Bureau London.jpg, The embassy in 2008, prior to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi File:Former Libyan People's Bureau, St James's Sq, London.JPG, The former Libyan Embassy (left) in St James's Square which was known as the Libyan People's Bureau

References

{{Diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom

Diplomatic missions of Libya Libya–United Kingdom relations Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Knightsbridge

Gallery

See also

References