Two further Libyan soldiers have been charged in connection with the string of sexual assaults that took place in Cambridge last weekend.

Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud, 33, and Ibrahim Abogutila, 22, were charged on Monday night with the rape of a man in his 20s.

They are accused of carrying out the rape on Sunday 26th October in the vicinity of Christ’s Pieces. They are set to appear before Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Last week, two Libyan soldiers pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of several women in Market Square on the same night, while a third declined to enter a plea.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence announced on Monday that over 300 Libyan army cadets currently stationed in Bassingbourn Barracks, three miles north of Royston, will be sent home early following the attacks.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: “[We] have agreed with the Libyan government that it is best for all involved to bring forward the training completion date. The recruits will be returning to Libya in the coming days."

"And as part of our ongoing support for the Libyan government, we will review how best to train Libyan security forces – including whether training further tranches of recruits in the UK is the best way forward."

Andrew Lansley, MP for South Cambridgeshire, has been applying public pressure on the MoD to rethink the training programme in the days since the assaults.

Having originally been in favour of the scheme, he said that the UK’s commitment to train the soldiers in concert with other G8 states “has not worked as we had hoped. It is clear that the stipulation that there was to be no unauthorised exit from the base has not been adhered to, and the consequences have been unacceptable.”

Since the assaults, a petition seeking better lighting from the City Council has reached over 1,700 signatures, including support from Cambridge’s MP Julian Huppert and several councillors.

The petition states: “We urgently need better lighting in our parks and green spaces to ensure that when we walk through Cambridge at night, we feel safer and more secure.”

Bassingbourn Barracks was closed for training operations in 2012, before reopening this year to accommodate the Libyan cadets. The Ministry of Defence is now reviewing whether to go ahead with planned further training of soldiers from Libya, aimed at stabilising the country in the wake of its civil war.

Anyone with information pertaining to either of these incidents can contact police by calling 101, or anonymously calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, support services are available, and can be contacted as follows:

Linkline: 01223 744444
Samaritans: 08457 909090
Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre (female victims): 01223 245888
Survivors UK (male victims): webchat and email
MPower (male victims): 0808 808 4321

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