Britain: Murder Clues

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Though she had remained on the sidelines throughout the crisis, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher defended herself and her government in the House of Commons last week. When opposition members called for an outside inquiry into the embassy siege, the Prime Minister flatly refused. Said she: "It would compromise the sources and damage the effectiveness of our intelligence services."

With the Libyan crisis apparently behind her, Thatcher chose the fifth anniversary of her 1979 election victory to announce that she plans to lead her party into the next general election, which must be held by 1988 . No Prime Minister has won a third straight term since William Pitt the Younger did it in 1796. Thatcher remains confident despite a poor showing by the Conservatives in last week's local elections. A public opinion poll published by the Sunday Observer found that 79% of those interviewed were willing to describe Thatcher as the country's "toughest Prime Minister since Churchill," though at the same time 62% agreed with the statement that "she acts too much like a dictator."