Libyan sex attack cadets 'seeking asylum in UK'

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Three Libyan soldiers convicted of sexual assaults in the UK are seeking asylum in this country, it has been reported.

Khaled El Azibi, Naji El Maarfi and Mohammed Abdalsalam carried out the attacks while stationed at Bassingbourn Barracks last October.

They have been released from prison and transferred to secure immigration units, Cambridgeshire Police told the BBC.

A lawyer for one of their three victims said the woman was "dismayed".

"It's difficult enough to recover from a situation where you're set upon by a stranger and sexually assaulted," solicitor Richard Scorer told the BBC.

"But if you have to do that in the knowledge that that person has now come to this country and is trying to build a life here, I think that is very, very, very difficult to deal with, and completely wrong and unacceptable.

"I think it's a breach of their human rights and really we can't allow this to happen."

The cadets were among 300 troops being trained to support the newly-formed Libyan government.

They stole bicycles and rode into Cambridge city centre before accosting three teenage women during the early hours of October 26, 2014.

The attacks included trying to kiss a woman without consent and then sexually assaulting her. El Maarfi exposed himself to one of the women.

They each served sentences of between 10 and 12 months before being released from prison.

PA