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| One note said London was keen for Blair to meet Kadhafi in a Bedouin tent as "the journalists would love it" |
British and
US intelligence cooperated closely with Libya, with prisoners being offered to
Moamer Kadhafi's regime under the rendition programme, a report said Saturday
citing files found in Tripoli.
British
daily The Independent said the secret documents discovered in the office of
former Libyan foreign minister Mussa Kussa also show that Britain passed
details of exiled opponents to Kadhafi's spies.
The cache
further shows that it was the office of former prime minister Tony Blair that
requested that a 2004 meeting with Kadhafi in Tripoli should take place in a
Bedouin tent, the daily said.
There was
no immediate reaction from British or US authorities to the report.
The paper
said the documents would raise questions about the ties that Britain, in
particular, and the United States forged with Kussa and the regime as the
western powers tried to bring Libya out of isolation.
Kussa flew
to Britain in March and defected, but despite being accused of rights
violations was allowed to fly to Qatar the following month.
The
Independent said the papers include letters and faxes to Kussa headed
"Greetings from MI6" (Britain's foreign intelligence service) and a
personal Christmas greeting signed by a senior British spy with the epithet
"Your friend".
It also
cites a US administration document, marked secret, saying that it was "in
a position" to deliver a man named as Shaykh Musa, a member of the
Al-Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, "to your physical
custody."
"We
respectfully request an expression of interest from your service regarding
taking custody of Musa," it quotes the document as saying.
In a
separate report the Wall Street Journal said files show strong cooperation
between the CIA and Kadhafi's intelligence agencies, including shipping terror
suspects to the North African country for interrogation.
The Central
Intelligence Agency, under the administration of then-president George W. Bush,
brought terror suspects to Libya and suggested questions that Libyan
interrogators should ask them, it said, citing documents found at the
headquarters of Libya's External Security agency.
The CIA
also moved to set up in 2004 "a permanent presence" in the country,
the Journal said, according to a note from CIA top operative Stephen Kappes.
Secret CIA
rendition flights transported dozens of terror suspects around the world
following the 9/11 attacks, often for interrogation in third countries.
Meanwhile
British intelligence in a letter dated April 16, 2004 informs a Libyan security
agency that a Libyan opposition actvist had been freed from British detention,
the Independent said.
A further
document purportedly from MI6 seeks information about a suspect travelling on a
Libyan passport, adding that it is a "sensitive operation".
The cache
also shows that a statement given by Kadhafi announcing that his regime was
giving up weapons of mass destruction in a bid to shed its pariah status was
put together with the help of British officials.
A letter
addressed to a Libyan official from British intelligence attached a
"tidied up version of the language we agreed...", it said.
Meanwhile
the Independent said a sizeable amount of the correspondence was devoted to
preparations for Blair's landmark Tripoli visit, and showed that Kussa played a
role as conduit with the premier's 10 Downing Street office.
In one, it
said an MI6 officer wrote to Kussa saying: "No.10 are keen that the Prime
Minister meet the leader in his tent. I don't know why the English are
fascinated by tents. The plain fact is the journalists would love it."
Blair was
duly pictured shaking hands with Kadhafi in a Bedouin tent.
AFP
Dear Musa
I am glad to propose that our services take an additional step in cooperation with the establishment of a permanent CIA presence in Libya. We have talked about this move for quite some time and Libya's cooperation on WMD and other issues, as well as our recent intelligence cooperation, mean that now is the right moment to move ahead. I am prepared to send [XXX] to Libya to introduce two of my officers to you and your service, arriving in Tripoli on 20 March. These two officers, both of whom are experienced and can speak Arabic, will initially staff our station in Libya. [XXX] will communicate the details via fax. I will call to confirm this with you.
We are also
eager to work with you in the questioning of the terrorist we recently rendered
to your country. I would like to send to Libya an additional two officers and I
would appreciate if they could have direct access to question this individual.
Should you agree I would like to send these two officers to Libya on 25 March. Again
[XXX] will communicate the details to you.
Steve
Steve
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