3 Libyan soldiers convicted of sex crimes in the UK seek asylum

Three Libyan soldiers who have been convicted of sexual assaults while undergoing training at the Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire last year, are seeking asylum in the UK. The lawyer for one of their victims had described their applications as "completely unacceptable."

The three, Khaled El Azibi, Naji El Maarfi and Mohammed Abdalsalam each served between 10 and 12 months in jail and have been put on the sex offenders register for 10 years. They are now in secure immigration units after being released from prison and are now seeking asylum, according to a Cambridgeshire Police spokesman, Sky News said. The soldiers were among the 300 troops undergoing training to support the newly formed Libyan government.

Their victims are due to receive letters informing them of the latest development, solicitor Richard Scorer of law firm Slater and Gordon said, according to the TV station. "These men were invited here as guests to this country to be trained and to provide help for them in their home country.

"They abused that hospitality in the most appalling way imaginable and the idea that they would then be granted asylum - having committed these crimes - is completely wrong and unacceptable that they should be allowed to remain in this country any longer. It adds insult to injury for the women concerned," he said.

The three stole bicycles and rode into Cambridge city centre where they accosted three teenage girls in the early hours of 26 October 2014. The attacks included trying to kiss a woman without her consent, and then sexually assaulting her. El Maarfi also exposed himself to one of the women.

In a separate incident, two other cadets were handed 12 year jail sentences for raping a man on the same night. The two incidents resulted in the Ministry of Defence sending back all the Libyan troops earlier than scheduled. There are no more plans to train more Libyan recruits at Bassingbourn,

Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud, 33 and Ibrahim Abugtila, 23, attacked the victim after tracking him like "hunting dogs who had seen a wounded animal," according to the public prosecutor John Farmer.