MI6 saved Saif Gaddafi from death threat

 

British intelligence and Scotland Yard were involved in an international operation to protect Saif al-Islam, the son of Muammar Gaddafi, from an Islamist plot to assassinate him on British soil, secret files discovered by The Independent have revealed. The British intelligence services suspected that the plot was linked to Qatar, currently the West's foremost Arab ally against the Libyan regime. MI6 and the SAS are now involved in the hunt for Saif, along with other members of the Gaddafi family who remain elusive in the endgame of the Libyan civil war. The dictator's son has been condemned by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, for his part in the brutal crackdown which followed the February revolution and for which he faces war-crimes charges. But, in the past, MI6 urgently contacted its French counterparts after Libyan authorities reported that a terrorist cell linked to the Gulf state of Qatar was planning the attack from Paris. The French told UK officials at the time that "the Qatari Interior Minister was known to be an Islamist extremist sympathiser".

Libya rebels close in on Kadafi stronghold

 

Rebel forces were closing in Sunday on a strategic town still loyal to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi amid reports that negotiations for the town's surrender had broken down. Abdullah Kanshil, a rebel negotiator, told reporters Sunday that talks meant to craft a nonviolent surrender of the desert town of Bani Walid had failed. He said the next step was in the hands of field commanders. The focus in the six-month civil war has shifted to Bani Walid, a Kadafi stronghold about 90 miles southeast of Tripoli, the capital. Rebel forces captured Tripoli last month, sending Kadafi and his family on the run. However, Libya's rebel forces have yet to assert control over the entire nation. That fact has slowed progress in forming a new government in Tripoli and instilling confidence in a nervous and war-weary population. Rebel forces have been massing outside Bani Walid, in some cases reportedly as close as 10 miles from the town center. Libya's interim rulers have issued an ultimatum giving Kadafi strongholds — including Bani Walid and the coastal city of Surt, Kadafi's birthplace — until Saturday to surrender or face an all-out assault. But some rebel spokesmen have given mixed messages, declaring that an attack on Bani Walid could begin anytime. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, meantime, has been bombing targets in and around Bani Walid and Surt, along with several Kadafi strongholds in southern Libya. From his hiding place, Kadafi has publicly urged his followers to resist the rebel onslaught until the end. His whereabouts and those of several of his sons remained publicly unknown. His wife, daughter, two sons and several grandchildren have fled to Algeria. Rebel official say capturing or killing Kadafi is important to convince Libyans that the longtime leader is never returning to power.

Russia says former Libya govt should help reconciliation

 

Members of Libya's former government should participate in the country's reconciliation process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday, weighing in on the future of a country where it has billions of dollars in contracts at stake. "Those political, ethnic and tribal forces which represented former leaders of the Libyan government unconditionally should be a part of the process of national reconciliation," Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as telling a news conference with his Brazilian counterpart Antonio Patriota. Russia had billions of dollars worth of arms, energy and construction deals under deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Moscow wants to make sure they are not lost during the transition to power by Libya's interim council. Moscow has invited members of the National Transitional Council to discuss Russian contracts in the country stricken by six-months of civil war, an initiative Lavrov said had been received with some interest. "Now there is interest, which was expressed by representatives of the National Transitional Council, regarding sending here those members of the structure, who are responsible for economic affairs," he said. Russia's top oil and gas producers Gazprom , Gazprom Neft and Tatneft had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in exploration in Libya before suspending operations when an uprising broke out earlier this year against Gaddafi's rule. Russia said it recognised Libya's NTC as the legitimate authority in Libya on Sept. 1 after repeatedly accusing NATO forces carrying out airstrikes as overstepping their mandate and siding with anti-Gaddafi forces in a civil war. Russia's arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport has also said that it may have lost some $4 billion in existing and potential arms deals with Gaddafi's government. Aram Shegunts, director general of the Russia-Libya Business Council, told Reuters in August that Russian energy firms are likely to be barred from resuming work in Libya after NATO-backed rebels ousted Gaddafi.

Tripoli hospital turned into 'mass morgue

The corpses were splayed on gurneys and rotting. One still had an intravenous tube in his arm. Each body was dumped to the ground, rolled in plastic and heaved to the pile on a truck in a ritual repeated dozens of times without ceremony.

The discovery of as many as 200 bodies at Abu Salim hospital in Tripoli was an appalling scene to witness. Masks did little to filter the stench. The men on duty sprayed the air with deodorizer thinking it might help. It didn't.

We were told that doctors and staff abandoned the hospital during fierce fighting. That was nearly a week ago. When rebels took control of the area a few days ago doctors returned to the hospital, which by then was effectively a mass morgue.

It is unclear how the men, women and children died. The bodies we saw were those of Gadhafi loyalists who were wounded in battle. A poster of Moammar Gadhafi presided over a room slick with blood, water and maggots.

At least two men were shot in their beds. They were on the second floor covered with blankets. As the gurneys were wheeled away you could see where a bullet had passed through the pillow. The blood on the wall hinted at an execution. One of the bodies had a Libyan military card identifying him as a special forces member.

Nobody there claimed to know whether it was Gadhafi or rebel gunmen who executed them. I asked one doctor to give his opinion on how long the two men had been dead. He estimated two or three days, then shook his head and walked down the blood-streaked corridor.

With the battle for Libya in its seventh month the scope of the violence and the lines it has drawn is coming into sharper view. There are claims of atrocities on both sides: Amnesty International says it has evidence the Gadhafi regime employed torture, rape and murder. Rebels are also accused of killing prisoners.

The truth may never be known at Abu Salim hospital. The disposal of each body into the truck was punctuated in the same way: the stinking gurney was kicked down the sloping driveway so it could roll into a parking lot that by sunset was full.

 

tribe pledges to arrest rebels it believes were behind murder of opposition military commander

The move is in a sign of the tribal tensions that could undermine attempts to form a new government.
Abdel Fatah Younis was assassinated on July 28 after being summoned to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi for questioning.
Members of his Obeidi tribe are unhappy at the way the rebel’s National Transitional Council (NTC) has investigated his murder, amid allegations that senior opposition figures ordered the killing.
The spectre of splits and tribal tension has haunted the six-month old rebellion and could now damage attempts to unite the country.
Diplomats in Benghazi say the issue – centred on the death of one of the revolution’s most charismatic and controversial figures – will spark a crisis as the NTC tries to maintain unity and build a new government based on the rule of law.

 

British Tornado aircraft have fired precision-guided missiles against a large headquarters bunker in Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte

British Tornado aircraft have fired precision-guided missiles against a large headquarters bunker in Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte as intense fighting continued on the ground in Libya.

The latest Nato action overnight came as Defence Secretary Liam Fox urged the Gaddafi regime to recognise that the "game is up" and called for it to stop attacking its own people.

The whereabouts of the Libyan dictator remained unknown despite the involvement of Nato intelligence and reconnaissance assets.

Dr Fox told Sky News it was "premature to assume" the fighting was over as strong pockets of resistance remained.

Nato and UK forces from RAF Marham launched an attack on a command and control bunker of the Gaddafi regime in Sirte.

Despite the ongoing violence and the failure to capture Gaddafi, the National Transitional Council (NTC) cabinet was pressing ahead with its hugely symbolic move from eastern stronghold Benghazi to Tripoli.

Dr Fox said: "It's still important that we remove the potential for the regime to counter-attack against the NTC and to continue to wage war on their people, but it is far too early yet to say what the security situation will be in the weeks ahead."

He added: "We have information that there are some elements of the regime in Sirte. Where they are still continuing to wage war on the people of Libya, we will continue to degrade their military capabilities.

"The regime needs to recognise that the game is up. It is all over and they need to stop attacking their own people.

"But as long as they do continue to attack the people, Nato will continue to act as we have done under the UN Resolution 1973 to degrade the command and control and the military assets that they are using against the people of Libya."

car laden with explosives rammed through two gates and blew up at the United Nations' offices in Nigeria's capital Abuja today

car laden with explosives rammed through two gates and blew up at the United Nations' offices in Nigeria's capital Abuja today, killing at least 16 people and shattering part of the concrete structure.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it "an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others".

The brazen attack, carried out as the four-storey UN offices teemed with staff, comes as Africa's most populous nation faces the growing threat of both homegrown and international terrorism.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said: "We do not have any confirmation as yet who was responsible."

But suspicion fell on Boko Haram, the Muslim sect with reported links to al Qaida that wants to implement a strict version of Shariah law in the nation and is vehemently opposed to Western education and culture.

Witnesses said a sedan rammed through two separate gates at the UN compound as guards tried to stop the vehicle.

The suicide bomber inside crashed the car into the main reception area and detonated the explosives, inflicting the most damage possible, a spokesman for the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency said.

"I saw scattered bodies," said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the building, which he said shook with the explosion. "Many people are dead."

The Nigerian Red Cross reported at least 16 people died in the attack, with at least 11 others injured.

Nigerian Health Minister Mohammad Ali Pate made a public appeal for blood donation on the widely listened-to BBC Hausa language service, saying there were at least 60 injured people at the National Hospital in Abuja.

The buildings, known as UN House, had offices for about 400 employees working for 26 UN humanitarian and development agencies. Authorities were still trying to account for everyone in the building at the time of the blast.

"We condemn this terrible act, utterly," secretary-general Ban told reporters at UN headquarters. "We do not yet have precise casualty figures but they are likely to be considerable. A number of people are dead; many more are wounded."

The building, in the same neighbourhood as the US embassy and other diplomatic posts in Abuja, houses offices of a number of UN agencies including the UN Development Programme, UNICEF and the UN Population Fund.

The explosion punched a huge hole in the building. Workers brought three large cranes to the site within hours of the attack, trying to pull away the concrete and rubble to find survivors. Others at the site stood around, stunned, as medical workers began carrying out what appeared to be the dead.

"This is getting out of hand," said a UN staffer who identified himself as Bodunrin. "If they can get into the UN House, they can reach anywhere."

Ali Tikko, who was in a building 100 yards from the site of the blast said: "I heard one big boom."

Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said police are investigating. In a statement, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's office called the attack "barbaric, senseless and cowardly." The statement also promised to increase security in the nation's capital.

"President Jonathan reaffirms the federal government's total commitment to vigorously combat the incursion of all forms of terrorism into Nigeria, and wishes to reassure all Nigerians and the international community that his administration will spare no effort to bring the perpetrators to justice," the statement read.

The secretary-general said he was sending Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro and UN security chief Gregory Starr to Abuja immediately to meet with Nigerian authorities and to "respond to this emergency."

Oil-rich Nigeria faces terrorism threats on multiple fronts.

Nigeria, a nation of 150 million, is split between a largely Christian south and Muslim north. In recent months, the country has faced an increasing threat from Boko Haram.

The sect has carried out assassinations and bombings, including the June car bombing in Abuja of the national headquarters of Nigeria's federal police that killed at least two people.

Earlier this month, the commander for US military operations in Africa said Boko Haram may be trying to link with two al Qaida-linked groups in other African countries to mount joint attacks in Nigeria.

General Carter Ham said during a visit to Nigeria that "multiple sources" indicate Boko Haram made contacts with al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in north-west Africa, and with al-Shabab in Somalia.

"I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us as well," he said.

Last year, a militant group from the country's oil patch, the Niger Delta, blew up car bombs in the capital during Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary ceremony, killing at least 12.

British and French special forces are on the ground in eastern Libya

British and French special forces are on the ground in eastern Libya, calling in air strikes and helping rebel units as they prepare to assault Sirte, the last coastal town still in the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces, a rebel officer has told the Guardian.

The soldiers have taken a leading role not only in guiding bombers to blast a path for opposition fighters but also in planning the offensive that finally broke the six-month siege of Misrata, Mohammed Subka, a communications specialist in the Al Watum (My Home) brigade, said.

On Thursday afternoon, Subka and his unit waited at the rebel frontline, known as Kilometre Sixty, aboard a column of battered, black pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns and a few tanks recently captured from Gaddafi's forces.

"We are with the England team," he told the Guardian. "They advise us."

Kilometre Sixty lies in the flat, empty desert, no more than a sand-coloured mosque and a wrecked diner at a traffic intersection. Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace, lies 80 miles away.

The advance on the city could not begin until loyalist units south of the road ahead were cleared from their positions, Subka said, flipping open his laptop to show a map – apparently provided by Nato – of artillery positions threatening the route. "We don't worry about those units – they are Nato's concern," he said.

There were reports last night from a pro-Gaddafi TV station, al-Orouba, that Sirte was being bombed in air strikes but gave no further details or source.

Defence sources have confirmed to the Guardian that British special forces have been on the ground in Libya for several weeks, along with special forces from Qatar, France and some eastern European states.

Subka said British and French units had been operating in Misrata for several weeks, based somewhere near the city's port, Kasa Ahmed. Of the two, he said the British were the more friendly.

A common complaint among Misrata commanders earlier in the conflict was that Nato had no ready way to answer requests for air support when lightly-equipped forces were attacked by tanks and heavy artillery.

Subka, who was given the job of liaising with the British unit because he once worked as an aircraft dispatcher at Tripoli airport, said that had now changed.

The alliance has provided sophisticated means of sending in requests for air strikes: "Sometimes email, sometimes VHF [radio]," he said. "You send it [the air strike request] to Misrata port."

The Nato team also helped plan the first breakout of the rebels two weeks ago when they captured the town of Tawarga.

The plan demanded close co-ordination between the Halbus Brigade, making a frontal assault on the town, and a secondary thrust through the desert to cut Tawarga off from loyalist reinforcements.

Subka said the plan worked flawlessly. "It was a very beautiful plan," he added. "The plan went to perfection, and not just the plan, also the timing. Even the Nato operations room sent us a commendation."

The British and French units also helped opposition fighters assault Zlitan at the weekend in the first stage of the offensive that took rebel units into Tripoli.

Testimony to the deadly effect of Nato's bombing was evident along the highway leading out of the city.

Concrete buildings used as bunkers by Gaddafi's forces were flattened, while tanks were ripped apart, their turrets and tracks strewn across the road. Further south, all that remained of an ammunition truck was a blackened carpet of splinters.

Opposition commanders would rather avoid an attack on Sirte, hoping the fall of Tripoli will persuade its defenders to lay down their arms without a fight.

But a spate of attacks from Sirte on Misrata using scud missiles – the heaviest weapon in Gaddafi's armoury – have added urgency to their advance.

At least four of the rockets have been intercepted seconds before they were due to impact on the city, reportedly hit by missiles fired by a US navy cruiser operating in the Gulf of Sirte.

Misratans, after six months of near-constant bombardment, fear that, sooner or later, one scud will get through, and the attacks have provoked the one source of tension between Nato and its rebel liaison officers.

Subka said he watched a scud come down in the sea near Misrata and called Nato to complain that it had not been intercepted. "They told me: 'We intercepted them,'" he said. "I said: 'You did this underwater?"

Subka insisted the working relationship with the British team was good, and their advice was again being sought as the rebels of Misrata, closing on Sirte from the west, co-ordinate with separate rebel forces from Brega moving in from the east.

Looking out across the empty desert, the weary-looking fighter said he wanted the war to end so he could train to be a pilot and spend time riding his motorbike. "We are fighting every day for six months, I'm tired of war," he said. "I don't want to kill anyone."

Then he announced that it was time to go, boarded his jeep, and the long column snaked its way towards Sirte.

Cloak and dagger Low-key role of SAS

British special forces soldiers in Libya currently number fewer than 30, but the size of the deployment could be increased if the security situation deteriorates and the hunt for Gaddafi and his entourage drags on.

SAS troops have so far taken an undercover role, training rebel groups in advance of the attack on Tripoli. They have been working with French commandos and special forces from a number of east European countries. British defence officials, perhaps for political reasons, are emphasising the role played by Qatari special forces, notably in the storming of Gaddafi's compound, and those of the UAE.

SAS soldiers, whose role in Libya was first reported in the Guardian, have long experience of hunting down prominent individuals, a task they carried out in Bosnia in the search for war criminals, in Iraq, where they tracked down leading al-Qaida operatives, and in Afghanistan, where US generals praised their role in killing Taliban commanders.

However, in Libya their primary task is likely to remain that of advisers, UK defence officials said. Their presence in any final shoot-out with Gaddafi would not be welcome, either in Libya or in London, officials suggest.

Rebels raiding Colonel Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli have made perhaps their most bizarre discovery yet - a photo album packed with pictures of Condoleezza Rice.

Rebels raiding Colonel Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli have made perhaps their most bizarre discovery yet - a photo album packed with pictures of Condoleezza Rice.

Glossy images of America's former Secretary of State were discovered by looters after the besieged leader fled his lair.

Col Gaddafi has previously expressed strong feelings for Miss Rice - in a TV interview in 2007 he described her as his "darling black African woman".

"I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders," he told the Al Jazeera network.

 

"Leezza, Leezza, Leezza... I love her very much. I admire her and am proud of her because she's a black woman of African origin."

He met the subject of his admiration the following year when she visited Libya in a bid to cool relations between the two countries.

She even spent time at his home within the compound - which President Ronald Reagan had bombed in the 1980s - sharing a traditional meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

:: Pictures from inside Col Gaddafi's compound

 

Eyebrows were raised after Miss Rice was handed a number of unusual and expensive gifts from the Libyan leader, widely dubbed 'Mad Dog' .

The included a lute, a diamond ring and a locket with a likeness of him engraved inside.

Miss Rice has not responded to questions about the photo album, but a US government official described it as "deeply creepy".

Other finds in the Bab al Aziziya compound have included fairground rides, expensive art hanging in one of Col Gaddafi's palaces and a family cinema.

Rebels have also ransacked the home of Col Gaddafi's daughter Aisha, posing for photos on her elaborate two-seater couch adorned with a gold-coloured mermaid.

Libyan rebel forces are pushing towards Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, having taken most of Tripoli.

Libyan rebel forces are pushing towards Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, having taken most of Tripoli.

They have been exchanging heavy rocket fire with about 1,000 Gaddafi loyalists on the road to the city and are bringing up reinforcements.

Gaddafi forces are still firmly in control of the eastern city as well as Sabha in the desert to the south.

But with supplies and power running short, there are warnings of an impending humanitarian crisis in Libya.

Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also said to be blocked in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.

"Gaddafi's forces are still fighting, we are surprised. We thought they would surrender with the fall of Tripoli," rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised to release for the rebels more than 350m euros (£307m; $505m) in Libyan assets frozen in Italian banks.

He announced the news after talks with the head of the rebel National Transitional Council's (NTC) cabinet, Mahmoud Jibril, who is seeking $2.5bn in immediate aid.


It's not quite over yet. About 60 miles from Sirte - we could hear the crump of rockets falling. Plumes of smoke rose up. The rebels told us a force of around 1,000 loyalists was on the road ahead and they were attacking. The rebels were firing their own Grad rockets in reply.

Three trucks sent volleys of them streaking across the sky. Reinforcements were pushed up, transporters carried tanks - teenage rebel fighters sitting on top of them and cheering as they headed for the battle. The rebels were baffled by how stubborn their enemy was being.

The commanders had expected that once the colonel himself had been removed from power, his men would give up having no reason to carry on. But it seems that some at least will fight right down to the last few square feet of territory which belongs to the old regime.

The NTC's immediate priority is to cover humanitarian costs and pay employees' salaries, though in the longer term, money will be needed to repair Libya's oil infrastructure, correspondents say.

On the humanitarian situation, Henry Gray, the emergency co-ordinator for the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in Tripoli says there are two urgent needs.

"Libya's got a large number of very well-trained, experienced doctors, surgeons and consultants, but for years it's relied on expatriate nursing staff and paramedical staff, a lot of those have fled the conflict back in April-May. So now there's a huge gap in basic nursing care, in cleaning, in laboratory technicians that type of thing," he told the BBC World Service.

"The other main need is in the supply of specialist orthopaedic equipment, but also in terms of anaesthesia drugs, antibiotics for victims of gunshots, explosions, that type of thing."

The NTC also says it has started the process of moving its headquarters from Benghazi to Tripoli, but that with Gaddafi loyalists still fighting back, a full move has been postponed until next week at the earliest.

Col Gaddafi's whereabouts are unknown, though rebels have said they think he is still in or around Tripoli.


In other developments:

Four Italian newspaper journalists who were abducted by suspected Gaddafi loyalists on Wednesday have been freed, Italian media report.
The Arab League has said it gives its full backing to the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Late on Wednesday, the US presented a draft resolution at a meeting of the UN Security Council asking it to release $1.5bn of assets for humanitarian needs. A vote is expected on Thursday or Friday.
South Africa has been stalling Washington's attempts over the resolution, saying it wants to wait for guidance from the African Union, which has not recognised the rebel leadership as Libya's legitimate authority.
UK Defence Minister Liam Fox confirms Nato is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assistance to rebels hunting Colonel Gaddafi.
'Dead or alive'




Guma el-Gamaty, NTC, on the "golden chance" for those close to Col Gaddafi to hand him over or kill him
The fighting has died down in the capital, Tripoli, which the rebels entered four days ago.

Col Gaddafi's sprawling Bab al-Aziziya compound was overrun on Tuesday, though there were firefights within the complex on Wednesday.

Rebel commanders said hot spots remained, with snipers and rocket explosions still dangerous.

The rebels have announced an amnesty for anyone within Col Gaddafi's "inner circle" who captures or kills him, and a $1.7m (£1m) reward.


Libyan rebels as well as Nato officials will be hoping that the hunt for Col Muammar Gaddafi does not turn into a protracted affair ”

Gordon Corera
Security correspondent, BBC News
Where is Col Muammar Gaddafi?
The head of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, announced the amnesty offer from the eastern city of Benghazi, adding the NTC supported an offer by a group of businessmen to pay $1.7m for Col Gaddafi, "dead or alive".

Col Gaddafi also faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.

The rebel leadership have also offered Col Gaddafi safe passage out of the country, if he renounces his leadership.

The fugitive leader has vowed in an audio message to fight until victory or martyrdom.