CIA abducted anti-Gaddafi militants in early 2000s and handed them over to Tripoli
53 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14774533[/url]
• Documents found at the Libyan spy chief's office show that from 2002-04 the CIA abducted several militants and handed them over to Tripoli, provided questions for the Libyan interrogators to ask, and were actually present at some interrogations.
• One of those abducted was Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a key member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who now commands anti-Gaddafi forces in Tripoli. He says he was indeed abducted but 'holds no grudge' to the Americans.
• Additionally, MI6 apparently handed Tripoli details of a Libyan dissident recently released from a UK prison, and helped him write a speech for his 2004 meeting with Tony Blair.
[quote=BBC News][b]US and UK spy agencies built close ties with their Libyan counterparts during the so-called War on Terror, according to documents discovered at the office of Col Gaddafi's former spy chief.[/b]
The papers suggest the CIA abducted several suspected militants from 2002 to 2004 and handed them to Tripoli.
The UK's MI6 also apparently gave the Gaddafi regime details of dissidents.
The documents, found by Human Rights Watch workers, have not been seen by the BBC or independently verified.
Meanwhile, the head of Libya's interim governing body, the National Transitional Council, said its soldiers were laying siege to towns still held by Col Gaddafi's forces.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Sirte, Bani Walid, Jufra and Sabha were being given humanitarian aid, but had one week to surrender.
However, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi says there are unconfirmed reports that Bani Walid has now been taken by anti-Gaddafi forces.
'Protecting Americans'
Thousands of pieces of correspondence from US and UK officials were uncovered by reporters and activists in an office apparently used by Moussa Koussa, who served for years as Col Gaddafi's spy chief before becoming foreign minister.
He defected in the early part of the rebellion, flying to the UK and then on to Qatar.
Rights groups have long accused him of involvement in atrocities, and had called on the UK to arrest him at the time.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Tripoli says the documents illuminate a short period when the Libyan intelligence agency was a trusted and valued ally of both MI6 and the CIA, with the tone of exchanges between agents breezy and bordering on the chummy.
Human Rights Watch accused the CIA of condoning torture.
"It wasn't just abducting suspected Islamic militants and handing them over to the Libyan intelligence," said Peter Bouckaert of HRW.
"The CIA also sent the questions they wanted Libyan intelligence to ask and, from the files, it's very clear they were present in some of the interrogations themselves," he said.
The papers outline the rendition of several suspects, including one that Human Rights Watch has identified as Abdel Hakim Belhaj, known in the documents as Abdullah al-Sadiq, who is now the military commander of the anti-Gaddafi forces in Tripoli.
The Americans snatched him in South East Asia before flying him to Tripoli in 2004, the documents claim.
Mr Belhaj, who was involved in an Islamist group attempting to overthrow Col Gaddafi in the early 2000s, had told the Associated Press news agency earlier this week that he had been rendered by the Americans, but held no grudge.
The CIA would not comment on the specifics of the allegations.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said: "It can't come as a surprise that the Central Intelligence Agency works with foreign governments to help protect our country from terrorism and other deadly threats."
The documents also reveal details about the UK's relationship with the Gaddafi regime.
The UK intelligence agency apparently helped to write a speech for Col Gaddafi in 2004, when the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair was encouraging the colonel to give up his weapons programme.
And British officials also insisted that Mr Blair's famous 2004 meeting with Col Gaddafi should be in his Bedouin tent, according to the UK's Independent newspaper, whose journalists also discovered the documents.
"[The prime minister's office is] keen that the prime minister meet the leader in his tent," the paper quotes a memo from an MI6 agent as saying.
"I don't know why the English are fascinated by tents. The plain fact is the journalists would love it."
In another memo, also seen by the Independent, UK intelligence appeared to give Tripoli details of a Libyan dissident who had been freed from jail in Britain.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague played down the revelations, telling Sky News that they "relate to a period under the previous government so I have no knowledge of those, of what was happening behind the scenes at that time".
Mr Blair and US President George W Bush lobbied hard to bring Col Gaddafi out of international isolation in the years after the 9/11 attacks, as Libya moved to normalise relations with former enemies in the West.
Bani Walid
In a press conference in Benghazi, Mr Jalil said four Gaddafi-held towns had one week to surrender "to avoid further bloodshed".
But our correspondent, Jon Leyne, says there are reports Bani Walid has now fallen without a fight, with Gaddafi loyalists either melting away or regrouping further south. However, these reports have not been confirmed.
One anti-Gaddafi commander, Abdulrazzak Naduri, had earlier told AFP that Bani Walid had until just 08:00 on Sunday or face military action.
Col Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unconfirmed. It was believed that two sons, Saadi and Saif al-Islam, had been in Bani Walid recently.
The NTC is stepping up its efforts at reconstruction, setting up a supreme security council to protect Tripoli.
Ian Martin, a special adviser to the UN secretary general, arrived in Libya's capital on Saturday to try to boost international efforts in the country's redevelopment.
Mr Jalil also announced tough measures to crack down on corruption in Libya's institutions.
The NTC has also said its leadership will not now move from Benghazi to Tripoli until next week, with Mr Jalil the last to go.
Our correspondent says this could mean a delay in the opposition formally assuming the role of the new government and raise fears of a power vacuum in the capital.[/quote]
More shit for the fan.
Snippity~~
I'm not surprised
Now that's some Charlie Wilson's War Shit right there.
It was the Early 2000's....
Sounds like a deal was made. Hand over these people and they get some information in return.
You mean to tell me our governments were doing their job in trying to protect the people by strengthening ties with a nation that has a history of not only funding, but taking part in terrorist attacks?
Sickening.
Ten years can have a hell of a lot of changes.
I'm not surprised either.
Woops
This doesn't mean anything. It was probably 8-10 years ago anyway, it's not like the CIA would have any reason to do this now.
I'm not surprised.
10 years ago was a different president? And it was also 10 years ago? It doesn't excuse the fact that the US did it, but what matters now is that we're helping.
[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;32094574]More shit for the fan.[/QUOTE]
Gonna need an industrial grade fan for this monumental train wreck of shit.
I was expecting this to be from Wikileaks.
Man, I wonder what the world will look like by the time this shit-storm hitting a fan made of train-wrecks is over.
[QUOTE=Killer_Andre;32096698]Gonna need an industrial grade fan for this monumental train wreck of shit.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Cone;32096791]Man, I wonder what the world will look like by the time this shit-storm hitting a fan made of train-wrecks is over.[/QUOTE]
[quote]One of those abducted was Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a key member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who now commands anti-Gaddafi forces in Tripoli. He says he was indeed abducted but 'holds no grudge' to the Americans.[/quote]
:~)
hey guys its ok becuz iot was in 2000 and it was to portect us ^__^
No, that does not excuse things at all.
[QUOTE=Patriarch;32096880]hey guys its ok becuz iot was in 2000 and it was to portect us ^__^
No, that does not excuse things at all.[/QUOTE]
UK did it too. Oh, lets see what you will say now.
[QUOTE=joost1120;32096940]UK did it too. Oh, lets see what you will say now.[/QUOTE]
I'm not trying to defend anyone here. My point is that this is fucking awful, and that it shows how a lot of Governments are unreliable and ignorant.
[QUOTE=joost1120;32096940]UK did it too. Oh, lets see what you will say now.[/QUOTE]
I'd imagine he could just copy-paste the same thing. Not everyone from my country is a blind patriot, you know.
Funny, the USA was condemning Gaddafi and his antics if I recall correctly.
[QUOTE=joost1120;32096940]UK did it too. Oh, lets see what you will say now.[/QUOTE]
well then the UK was wrong as well
[editline]3rd September 2011[/editline]
how are you people surprised in the slightest that the US government has engaged in immoral, clandestine actions overseas in order to protect it's own interests? We've done it in Iran, Afghanistan, Chile, Nicaragua...
[QUOTE=Patriarch;32096977]I'm not trying to defend anyone here. My point is that this is fucking awful, and that it shows how a lot of Governments are unreliable and ignorant.[/QUOTE]
Or more like this is what governments have been doing since forever.
[QUOTE=Canuhearmenow;32097725]Or more like this is what governments have been doing since forever.[/QUOTE]
Perceived as a somewhat necessary evil, unfortunately, as well as a self-propagating one.
Doesn't seem like that big of a deal compared to the horrible shit that's going on in the world.
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14783071[/url]
Abdel Hakim Belhaj wants an apology.
[QUOTE=smurfy;32117502][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14783071[/url]
Abdel Hakim Belhaj wants an apology.[/QUOTE]
I don't think he deserves one, considering how much we have stuck out necks out for him lately.
We've given him missile and air support and we've invested millions of dollars into the rebellion. That more than makes up for it.
Well I am surprised. I know the bush administration gets a lot of shit but I doubt all the other people and representatives that make up our government would let something like this slide especially way back when when we first tried to take down Ghadaffi.
I'm sketchy over this source BBC has gotten. Or maybe my brain is just compensating because I cannot believe the US and UK would condone something like this :/
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