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Rohit Kachroo Security Editor

The Scout Association, the Eurovision Song Contest and the English Premier League should be promoted in Libya to help fight terrorism, a UK government report leaked to ITV News concluded.

The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 2013 - before the rise of Isis - to try to find ways to confront instability in Libya. Its findings were circulated around Whitehall. It concluded that the countrys proximity to Europe and porous borders might present a risk to Britains national security.

Although researchers found that the UK is liked by young Libyans, it warned that British officials should tread carefully when writing new policy due to local suspicions about western interventions in the country.

It said that Britain cannot be seen to lead a programme, but should use soft power by promoting well-respected British organisations.

The Scout Movement is a well-established organisation in Libya the reports authors said. It benefited from the fact that it was apolitical throughout the rein of Gaddafi - but joined the front line during the revolution

If the UK actively supported the Libyan Scouting Movement, and worked to model the National Service programme on the same lines, it would achieve disproportionate benefit to the UK for relatively little investment.

The report called the English Premier League a significant soft power asset and suggested that its security expertise could be used to help promote stability.

The report's authors said that Libya could promote stability by applying to enter the Eurovision Song Contest.

Like many nations on Europes periphery, Libya is eligible to enter A campaign to support a Libyan entry which drew on Libyan culture could help unite the nation in a less gender-segregated field than football, and in a field which particularly appeals to youth

Last updated Fri 26 May 2017

See the article here:
Scouts and Premier League 'should be promoted in Libya' - ITV News