Ex-UK PM Blair says he urged Gadhafi to quit Libya in 2011

Tony Blair telephoned Moammar Gadhafi and tried to persuade him to leave Libya as the Arab Spring erupted in February 2011, the former British prime minister said on Friday.

Blair said he was not trying to “save” the Libyan dictator but “to get him out of the situation so that a peaceful transition could take place.” 

Blair said he’d acted as a private individual and spoke to Gadhafi “two or three” times over a 24-hour period. He said it soon became clear Gadhafi would not leave.

Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was instrumental in ending Gadhafi’s international isolation in return for Libya abandoning its nuclear and chemical arms programmes.

He has faced criticism for his rapprochement efforts with the oil-rich state, which included a 2004 meeting in Gadhafi’s desert tent.

Under Prime Minister David Cameron, the UK participated in a NATO-led 2011 military intervention that led to Gadhafi’s ouster and his death at the hands of rebel fighters.

Libya has since descended into chaos, with rival militias battling for control and extremists linked to the Islamic State group gaining strength.