David Cameron was under pressure last night to ensure that the Libyan defector
who arrived in Britain earlier this week co-operates with authorities
investigating the Lockerbie bombing, the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher and
potential war crimes.
10:00PM BST 31 Mar 2011
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Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, who fled to Britain on Wednesday,
is described as having "electrifying" information on Col Muammar
Gaddafi's role in terrorist atrocities across Europe.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said he would not block any attempts by the
police to question Mr Koussa.
Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa had not been offered a deal in return for
fleeing to Britain and had not been granted immunity from prosecution. But
if the defector is arrested and charged with crimes, it may undermine
attempts by Western governments to encourage others in Col Gaddafi's inner
circle to flee from Libya, a key aim of current diplomatic efforts.
Mr Koussa may also be reluctant to co-operate fully with British officials if
he is not given guarantees about his future.
Last night, the Scottish prosecuting authorities investigating the Lockerbie
bombing formally requested access to Mr Koussa, a right-hand man to Col
Gaddafi for more than 30 years.
International prosecutors investigating war crimes in
Libya are also expected to seek interviews with the defector.
Yesterday, the Libyan rebel leadership demanded he be returned to the
country to face war-crime charges.
Mr Koussa, who was likened yesterday to Rudolf
Hess by a Conservative MP, is being interrogated by MI6 at an
unknown location. It is not clear whether information obtained by MI6 will
be made public.
Senior Whitehall sources indicated that Scotland Yard was unlikely to get
involved "at the moment".
The Libyan foreign minister was identified yesterday by Jack Straw, the former
Labour foreign secretary, as a key source for British and American
intelligence for more than a decade.
Last night Ali Abdessalam Treki, a Libyan former foreign minister and UN
General Assembly president, also defected. Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy
UN ambassador, said that most high-level Libyan officials were trying to
defect but were having trouble leaving due to tight security. A senior
figure at the Libyan Embassy in London also defected.
In other developments yesterday:
• The head of Nato ruled out arming the Libyan rebels less than 24 hours after
Mr Cameron admitted that the plan was under consideration. The US defence
secretary said that another country, rather than America, should be take
charge of "assisting" the rebels.
• America warned that Col Gaddafi was "not about to break",
citing reports that regime troops were laying landmines around rebel-held
areas.
• British special forces were said to be operating beside the CIA on the
ground in Libya despite official denials that land troops were in action.
• The Vatican claimed to have evidence that coalition air strikes had killed
dozens of civilians in Tripoli.
• The Libyan government said that Col Gaddafi and his family would remain in
Libya "until the end" despite growing speculation they would seek
exile.
Last night, details of Mr Koussa's dramatic escape from Libya began to emerge.
According to Foreign Office sources, Mr Koussa's arrival was in doubt up
until the final few hours before he touched down at Farnborough Airfield in
a private jet chartered by the British military.
He told the regime that he was travelling to Tunisia to seek medical treatment
for high blood pressure. The British Government was informed that he wished
to head to this country but there was concern that he would instead fly on
to Italy, another destination he was said to have favoured.
One government source said: "We absolutely did not want to lose him. It
was vital that he did not go to Italy."
While Mr Koussa was airborne, Mr Cameron is said to have spoken to American
officials and secured their backing for allowing him into Britain.
As well as Lockerbie, officials are keen to question Mr Koussa about links to
the IRA. Col Gaddafi is widely suspected of supplying arms to the terrorists
at the height of IRA's bombing campaign in the 1980s.
Mr Koussa, who was previously in charge of the Libyan intelligence service has
been described as the “master of terror” who was previously expelled from
Britain for endorsing the assassination of dissidents in London. Western
intelligence has linked him to planning the Lockerbie bombing.
Over the past few months, Mr Cameron has played a leading role in calling for
key Gaddafi regime figures to face war-crime trials. The Prime Minister has
also spoken of his disgust at the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the
Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
Last night Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, the former Lord Advocate who initiated
and oversaw the Lockerbie case, suggested that a “snatch squad” should be
sent to Tripoli to try to secure any Libyan papers on the atrocity. He said
it was unlikely Mr Koussa had brought documents with him but added that he
had always had “dark suspicions” that the bomb plot came from the “heart of
government”.
“I think we should send in a snatch squad to secure what papers they have
before they are shredded,” said the Tory peer. Yesterday, at a press
conference, Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa would not be offered a
“deal”.
The Prime Minister said: “Let me be clear, Moussa Koussa is not being granted
immunity, there is no deal of that kind.
“And the point I would make about the dreadful events over Lockerbie: that
investigation is still open and the police and the prosecuting authorities
are entirely independent of government and they should follow their evidence
wherever it leads and the Government will assist them in any way possible.”
MPs from all political parties yesterday insisted that it was vital that
Koussa did not escape justice. Robert Halfon, a Conservative MP who has
tabled several parliamentary motions on Lockerbie, said: “I think what has
happened is comparable to Rudolf Hess coming here during the Second World
War.
“The fact is that this man is most likely a war criminal, allegedly been
responsible for the deaths of British citizens, allegedly the organiser of
the Lockerbie bombing, he’s part of the Gaddafi totalitarian regime and in
my view and that of many others he needs to go to the international court to
face trials for war crimes.”
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