Britain is pressing for an EU emergency summit declaration calling for Colonel Muammar Gadafy to step down, as it emerged that the Libyan leader’s security forces detained and repeatedly beat members of a BBC news team.
In a joint letter with Germany, foreign secretary William Hague said the upheaval in the EU’s “southern neighbourhood” presents Europe with a challenge and opportunity on a scale matching the revolutions of 1989.
On Libya it said the EU should agree a declaration that “the EU and its member states will not work or co-operate with Gadafy and that he has to step aside to allow for a true democratic transformation of the country”.
The letter, sent to EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton, came as it was revealed that three members of the BBC’s Arabic staff were accused of being spies and held for 21 hours in Libyan military compounds.
The trio were arrested on Monday at an army checkpoint at Al Zahra, 10km south of the western city of Zawiyah, before being interrogated, hooded, handcuffed, repeatedly assaulted and subjected to a mock execution.
Their “abhorrent treatment” was condemned by the BBC and the Foreign Office which promised a “day of reckoning” for the abuses.
A foreign office spokesman said: “This is yet another example of the horrific crimes being committed in Libya. The regime had invited journalists to Libya to see the truth. This truth is even more glaring today than it was before.”
The British government’s calls for a EU declaration on Col Gadafy also came after Baroness Ashton told MEPs in Strasbourg that he “should be sent back into the cold”.
Today, after hosting talks in Brussels with EU foreign ministers on the medium-term response to the crisis in Libya, she will go to Nato headquarters to join alliance defence ministers, including UK defence secretary Liam Fox, to discuss the prospects for implementing a no-fly zone.
No immediate decisions are likely, and Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted the organisation is engaged in “prudent planning” - assessing various potential responses to the developing crisis.
But Nato is “not looking to intervene” in Libya.
Any no-fly zone would in any case require a United Nations mandate and significant support, particularly from countries in the region.
Washington has made clear that any agreed military tactics, including a no-fly zone, would be best conducted by Nato.
Meanwhile, the joint Anglo-German letter to Baroness Ashton calls for a series of EU responses tailor-made for the circumstances of each country currently going through popular uprisings.
Signed by Mr Hague and his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, the letter says: “Our vision is a comprehensive partnership of equals between the peoples of Europe and its neighbourhood, underpinned by deeper and wider economic integration.
“We can achieve this by a custom-made co-operation of the European Union with those that want this partnership and see in it an opportunity to support the changes they want themselves.”
The letter calls for an EU accord covering everything from continuing humanitarian aid and help with migration and asylum to improved economic and social conditions for countries in democratic transition, and a “reapportioning” of funds for countries in the region to favour democratic reforms and strengthening the rule of law.
EU ministers are meeting today at the request of Baroness Ashton - because they are not invited to tomorrow’s summit of EU leaders, even though they are central to discussions on the massive changes taking place in the region.
Summit host Herman Van Rompuy is sticking to Lisbon Treaty protocol by keeping the summit to leaders only, but an official close to Baroness Ashton emphasised: “The summit meeting is about foreign policy and Baroness Ashton judges that it is extremely important that the foreign ministers have the chance to discuss the issues so that she can then relay their views to the summit.”
PA