The UK’s Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, has resigned from government following allegations about his involvement of a friend with official Defence Ministry business. A firm leaked the news that they had utilised the politician’s contact to pitch a product to the Minister while he was on official government business in Dubai.
Dr Fox will remain as MP for North Somerset and expressed his regret at not being able to oversee the conclusion of the UK action in Afghanistan but was proud to have “played a part in helping to liberate the people of Libya”. He had to answer questions in Parliament on Monday following the firm’s allegations.
His resignation was tendered to David Cameron and announced on Friday afternoon. Dr Fox apologised for allowing the distinction between his personal interest and government activities to become “blurred” and stated his sadness at leaving the position.
In This Story: Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast.
Occupying 652,000 square kilometers (252,000 sq mi), it is a mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest. Kabul is the capital and largest city. The population is around 32 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks.
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest.
The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya’s seven million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.
Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I. Parts of Libya are currently split between rival Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments, as well as various tribal and Islamist militias.
Libya is a member of the United Nations (since 1955), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC. The country’s official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims.
