Barack Obama says Britain is a 'free rider' and blames David Cameron for screwing up Libya

President Barack Obama has accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of leaving Libya in a mess because he got "distracted by a range of other things."

In an interview with The Atlantic, Obama took aim at both Cameron and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for not doing enough to stabilise Libya following the military campaign to remove Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Labelling France and Britain as "free riders," Obama expressed resentment that countries expect the USA to act in global conflict situations, but aren't willing "to put any skin in the game."

"But what has been a habit over the last several decades in these circumstances is people pushing us to act but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game."

In 2011, Britain and France led a NATO bombing campaign in Libya that successfully ended Gaddafi's 41-year hold on the country. In the years that have followed, Libya has descended into chaos with rival armed groups trying to establish their authority.

Obama does blame himself for some of the mess in Libya, to the extent that he says he had too much faith in other countries to follow up the initial military intervention.

"When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong, there's room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya's proximity, being invested in the follow-up."

The article in the Atlantic article also claims that Obama recently told Cameron that if Britain didn't commit at least 2 per cent of its GDP to defence spending, Britain would no longer be able to claim to have a "special relationship" with the US. "You have to pay your fair share," Obama told him.