Libya and Britain: The New Special Relationship
“Libya has genuinely become an important international partner for the UK on many levels. For example, Libya is now a vital partner for the UK in guaranteeing a secure energy future for the UK and is also a key partner in the fight against terrorism.

While I recognise that this will be of little comfort to you, it is vital for the UK’s present and future security that this continues.” – Rammell at the Foreign Office to Ganesh on BP’s investment in Libya, November 2008

THE SUNDAY TIMES: At 7.01pm on February 9, 1996, a huge lorry bomb exploded at South Quay in London’s Docklands, killing two people and injuring more than 100 others. The blast ripped a 32ft crater and caused £85m of damage.

Jonathan Ganesh, 37, a security guard from east London, was buried alive in the rubble. His two friends, Inam Bashir and John Jeffries, were killed in the news kiosk where they worked.

For Ganesh, the blame for the attack lies not only with the IRA, which planted the bomb, but also with Libya, which is suspected of supplying the Semtex plastic explosive used in it. He is among the bomb victims and their families who want compensation from Tripoli.

“The government has let the Libyans off scot-free,” he said. “The money doesn’t bother me. But I can’t let my friends die like that. They were blown to pieces. They couldn’t even be identified.”

The compensation campaign involving 200 British victims has been frustrated to date by the government’s reluctance to support the case — even though Libya agreed to pay a small number of Americans who were victims of IRA terror attacks.

Ministerial letters obtained by The Sunday Times reveal this reluctance is partly explained by fears of jeopardising relations with the newly rehabilitated regime of Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. In a letter to the victims’ lawyers dated October 7, 2008, Gordon Brown wrote: “Libya would not support or be prepared to discuss a bilateral settlement of these cases and doing so would entail substantial risks.”

Another letter from Bill Rammell, then a Foreign Office minister, dated November 6, 2008, also says the government will not intervene in negotiations, explaining that Libya is a vital partner for a “secure energy future” and in the fight against terrorism.

The letters provide new damning evidence of the government’s eagerness to maintain good relations with Libya, in which trade appears to weigh more heavily on ministers’ minds than the plight of British victims of terrorism. >>> | Sunday, September 06, 2009

Libya’s Viewpoint: Celebrate Libya Sees Olympic-scale Success While World Watches On
THE TRIPOLI POST: TRIPOLI, Libya: As Western media continue their unfair, confused, disinforming and deceptive coverage of the release of the innocent Libyan citizen Abdulbaset Al-Megrahi from his eleven-year captivity in European prisons, Libya celebrates the First September Revolution’s 40th Anniversary as never before. A grand celebration sets in motion a week of unprecedented events scheduled to sweep through the country started on 1 September. The celebrations offered at least a glimpse into the country’s rich 14,000 [?] year history.

Dignitaries from around the world gathered in Tripoli’s Green Park last night to witness what has been one of the Africa’s largest, most successful and most spectacular events in history. The celebration marked the 40th Anniversary of the Al Fateh Revolution. Guests joined Muammar Al Gaddafi, Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution, for a full schedule of activities from a military parade to an exclusive Iftar dinner and opening ceremony designed to bring to life Libya’s rich history and culture.

Al-Megrahi, however, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 after being unjustly convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. He served eleven years and five months in prison including more than two years in the infamous Camp Zeist prison in Holland. Legal experts in the US, Britain and the rest of the world have made it clear since the begging of the shame [sic] trial in the Netherlands that the trial was unfair and the prosecutor had no case.

Military Precision

The celebrations launched with a perfectly executed military parade involving troops from countries across the world. African nations such as Senegal and Algeria participated alongside European countries including Italy and Ukraine, marching to music and bearing their national flags. Troops from Greece and the French Foreign legion also participated. The soldiers were followed by full artillery of military vehicles, from trucks to tanks, some carrying an anti-aircraft weaponry while naval vessels passed by offshore. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, King Abdullah of Jordan, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani from Qatar, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, Tunisia’s President Ben Ali, Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Boutaflika, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Benin’s President Karekou were amongst the VIP audience as the Frecce Tricolori, Italian acrobatic planes, flew in formation over the parade ground and around Tripoli’s beautiful coastline.

VIP Iftar

Close by dignitaries made their way a specially designed dining area, constructed to float atop the water of the Red Castle lake. A lantern-lit path from the bank of the lake to the VIP iftar was created in front of the Red Castle outer wall onto which unique projections were placed. The projections mark the beginning of what is known as ‘Libya by Light’, a week-long schedule of Libya inspired images across six of the country’s key cities. Some of the best international brands were brought in to offer a new dimension to the proceedings; the meal itself was designed and prepared by acclaimed Parisian restaurant Le Notre and guests were given limited edition gold Chopard watches with outline of Africa on the face and a diamond marking Libya within it.

Libya Takes to the Stage

As hundreds of performers prepared themselves for their grand debut on what is considered by organizers to be one of the largest tent-like stages to have ever been constructed, dignitaries arrived in golf kart manufactured by the likes of Hummer and Cadillac. Joined by the Leader’s family, further guests attended the opening ceremony included Turkey first lady, Prime Minister, Amina Erdogan, former Ukrainian Acting Prime Minister Ioulia Tymochenko, French Minister for Co-operation Alain Joyandet and the President of Chad Idriss Déby and the President of Niger Mamadou Tandja. And the show certainly impressed; acrobats, lasers, projections and illuminated sculptures of animals all came together to give the show a sense of style, grandeur and magic. >>> | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Chopard >>>

Yvonne Fletcher and the Betrayal of Justice
THE TELEGRAPH: British prosecutors were told more than two years ago that they had sufficient evidence to charge two Libyans over the killing of WPc Yvonne Fletcher, according to a leaked report.

A senior lawyer carried out an independent review of the case on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in which he said Matouk Mohammed Matouk and Abdulgader Mohammed Baghdadi could be charged with conspiracy to cause death.

Both men played instrumental roles in organising the shooting at the Libyan embassy in St James’s Square, central London, in 1984, the report said.

The secret report, which was conducted at the request of the Metropolitan Police, was completed in April 2007, just six weeks before Tony Blair, the prime minister at the time, held a controversial meeting with Colonel Gaddafi in Libya. The meeting formally opened trade links between Britain and the north African country.

The CPS said last night that two years on, the police had still not provided them with the final case against the men. It added that the investigation into the killing of WPc Fletcher, who was 25, was ongoing.

The fact that no further progress has been made despite the report will raise fresh questions about the nature of Britain’s vexed relationship with Libya since diplomatic relations were restored in 1999. >>> Christopher Hope, Gordon Rayner and Damien McElroy in Tripoli | Thursday, October 15, 2009

Another Shameful Surrender to Libya
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The Government's behaviour has made Britain look craven and weak.

The cynicism and tawdriness of Britain's dealings with Libya were brought into sharp focus recently by the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi. While ostensibly returned to his homeland on compassionate grounds, the affair drew attention to the murky dealings between London and Tripoli as part of a concerted international effort to end Libya's pariah status and halt its embryonic nuclear weapons programme.

It was long suspected that the process of Libya's rehabilitation involved a tacit agreement no longer to pursue the killers of WPc Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot while on patrol outside the Libyan embassy 25 years ago.

As our report indicates today, the principal responsibility for the lamentable failure to bring WPc Fletcher's killer to book appears to lie with Tony Blair, the former prime minister. In the summer of 2007, he visited Libya for talks with Col Gaddafi as part of the rapprochement. At this point, the Crown Prosecution Service had enough evidence to charge two Libyans with conspiracy.

Yet Mr Blair, no doubt dazzled by the trade and oil exploration opportunities on offer, did not make the resolution of this episode one of the conditions for continuing the process. Nor, when the release of Megrahi by the Scottish executive was being contemplated, did the British Government apparently urge that the quid pro quo should be the handing over of those responsible. While Libya was said to be unprepared to extradite its nationals, a precedent had been set in the Megrahi case for conducting a trial in a third country. >>> Telegraph View | Friday, October 16, 2009

NUMBER 10 – ePetition: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to urgently seek the extradition to the UK of the murderer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher. >>>

Showing the Spineless Side of “Great” Britain! WikiLeaks: Britain Feared Colonel Gaddafi Could 'Cut Us Off at the Knees' Unless Lockerbie Bomber Was Freed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain feared that Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi could “cut us off at the knees, just like the Swiss”, unless the Lockerbie bomber was released, leaked WikiLeaks cables show.

Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Sir Vincent Fean, the UK's ambassador to Tripoli at the time, also warned that continuing to hold Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi in a prison in Scotland could have “disastrous implications for British interests in Libya”.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988. He was freed on compassionate grounds in August 2009.

The warnings were contained in secret communiqués sent from US embassy staff in Tripoli in August 2009, and produced in Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine.

One cable said: “The British ambassador expressed relief that Megrahi likely would be returned to Libya under the compassionate release program.

“He noted that a refusal of Megrahi’s request could have had disastrous implications for British interests in Libya.”

Then the cable appeared to quote the ambassador saying: “They could have cut us off at the knees, just like the Swiss.” >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Tuesday, December 07, 2010

This just goes to show how spineless we Brits have become. Churchill must be turning in his grave! How disgusting! This story makes one feel ashamed to admit one is British. Get a grip! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

WikiLeaks Cables: Lockerbie Bomber Freed After Gaddafi's 'Thuggish' Threats
THE GUARDIAN: Megrahi case led to threats against UK's Libyan interests, while Scots who released him had turned down 'a parade of treats'

WikiLeaks cables say Muammar Gaddafi bullied and cajoled British politicians and bureaucrats to release convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (left), seen with the Libyan leader's son, Saif al-Islam, on his arrival in Tripoli. Photograph: The Guardian
The British government's deep fears that Libya would take "harsh and immediate" action against UK interests if the convicted Lockerbie bomber died in a Scottish prison are revealed in secret US embassy cables which show London's full support for the early release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, made explicit and "thuggish" threats to halt all trade deals with Britain and harass embassy staff if Megrahi remained in jail, the cables show. At the same time "a parade of treats" was offered by Libya to the Scottish devolved administration if it agreed to let him go, though the cable says they were turned down.

Britain at the time was "in an awkward position" and "between a rock and a hard place". The London charge d'affaires, Richard LeBaron, wrote in a cable to Washington in October 2008. "The Libyans have told HMG [Her Majesty's Government] flat out that there will be 'enormous repercussions' for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship if Megrahi's early release is not handled properly." >>> David Leigh | Tuesday, December 07, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: US Diplomats Struggle with an Eccentric Despot: For American diplomats, Libya is a notorious hardship post. With his quirky habits, hard bargaining, whiny sons and Ukrainian nurses, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is far from easy to deal with -- and a master of political extortion. >>> Juliane von Mittelstaedt | Saturday, December 04, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Ärger mit Libyen: Schweizer schlitterten hilflos in Geiselkrise – Die Affäre um die beiden Schweizer, die fast zwei Jahre lang in Libyen festgehalten wurden, war nach SPIEGEL-Informationen brisanter als bisher bekannt. US-Kabel zeigen, wie hilflos die Diplomaten der Alpenrepublik agierten. Demnach wäre die Krise beinahe EU-weit eskaliert. >>> | Sonntag, 05. Dezember 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Calmy-Rey bricht den Negativrekord: Mit nur 106 Stimmen zur neuen Bundespräsidentin gewählt >>> sda/bbu. | Mittwoch, 08. Dezember 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Haarsträubende Details zur Libyen-Affäre: Der GPK-Bericht enthält vor allem Neues zu den Exfiltrationsplänen und zu Merz' Reise nach Tripolis >>> Simon Gemperli, Bern | Samstag, 04. Dezember 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Calmy-Rey, présidente de la Confédération la plus mal élue de l’Histoire >>> Xavier Alonso et Romain Clivaz | Mercredi 08 Décembre 2010

LE TEMPS: Election misérable de Micheline Calmy-Rey : La socialiste genevoise n’obtient que 106 voix sur 189 bulletins valables. Vingt-et-un députés fédéraux n’ont pas jugé bon de participer à l’élection >>> Bernard Wuthrich | Mercredi 08 Décembre 2010

LE TEMPS: Micheline Calmy-Rey la mal-aimée du parlement : La socialiste genevoise doit être élue à la présidence de la Confédération mercredi. A Berne, l’embarras règne. Pas uniquement à cause du dossier libyen, mais aussi parce qu’elle irrite de nombreux parlementaires>>> Bernard Wuthrich | Mardi 07 Décembre 2010

Special Report from Libya: How Nato's Toppling of Gaddafi Has Turned to Disaster

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The country that fought for freedom is falling back into factionalism and bloodshed

Tears rolled down Khadija’s cheeks as the 17-seater plane – the whirr of its propellers deafening in the cabin – began its descent into the capital of a country crippled by war. The hope she’d felt of a better future for Libya after the ousting of dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi had long soured into resentment and fear. Now she was flying back into her homeland from exile. An uncle had been killed and she needed to attend his funeral.

“It wasn’t meant to be like this,” she said. “We have lost our dignity. We fought Gaddafi so that we could speak freely. Now it’s the same as before, but with less security.”

Many of her countrymen agree with her. Since the end of the 2011 Nato-backed war that toppled Gaddafi, Libya has fragmented – with two rival governments and their allied armed gangs vying for power. Nascent democracy has been supplanted by a system of repression and fear. Militias have become the most powerful players in a country devoid of the rule of law, of a national army or a police force. Anyone opposing them, be they politician or civilian, is silenced – often at gunpoint.

In the new Libya, just as in the old, speaking out against those wielding power is enough see you threatened, or killed. There was, many admit, a “golden age” in the months immediately after the end of Gaddafi’s 40-year-rule. But it was not long before factionalism began to spin out of control. Now that brief, optimistic interregnum is spoken of nostalgically, as thought [sic] it were a distant era. (+ video) » | Ruth Sherlock, video by Sam Tarling | Saturday, March 14, 2015

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: I don't regret helping overthrow Gaddafi, says David Cameron after Coptic Christian beheadings: Prime Minister defends Britain's involvement in Libya after 'monstrous' killings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Isil » | Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, February 17, 2015

THE GUARDIAN: We won't abandon Libya after killings, says David Cameron: Prime minister says Britain right to help oust Gaddafi and pledges support to Libya in the wake of ‘brutal, senseless murders’ of Coptic Christians » | Rowena Mason, political correspondent | Tuesday, February 17, 2015

4bitNEWS: Cameron took the glory for toppling Gaddafi – where is he now as Libya implodes? » | Editor | Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Gaddafi’s 40-year Celebrations ‘Will Be Libya’s Coming-out Party’
TIMES ONLINE: Philippe Skaff faced a formidable challenge even before Libya gave the Lockerbie bomber such a rapturous homecoming last week: to erase memories of that country’s terrorist-sponsoring, WMD-producing past with a shining new global image.

It is a long-term project, but the six days of spectacular celebrations that the communications executive and his team are organising to mark Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40 years in power next week will be the “launch pad”, he says. “It’s the great coming-out party. These celebrations will definitely be the turning point for Libya.”

Cost is no object to this oil-rich state. Some of the world’s leading event management companies have been roped in, Tripoli is being given the mother of all facelifts and the once-closed country is admitting foreigners in unprecedented numbers.

But there are problems that no amount of festivity can obscure. One is that the celebrations come just as world attention is focused on the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of Britain’s deadliest terrorist attack. Another is that, for all its recent courtship of the West, Libya remains a repressive police state ruled by a ruthless egomaniac.

A third is that while the entire world is being offered free live television coverage, the climax — a three-hour extravaganza on what Mr Skaff says is the biggest stage ever built — starts at 11pm local time when most of the globe is sleeping.

Mr Skaff, 52, the Canadian chief executive of Grey Worldwide Middle East and North Africa Network communications group, whose clients include BP, Bacardi, Union Carbide and BAT, is candid about his brief. It is to rebrand a country that has renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and to banish its pariah past.

“That image is not one they want to linger,” he told The Times. “They feel they have opened up, but the world has not responded the way they expected. They feel disappointed. They have made the effort and given in on a lot of issues to rejoin the international community. They are really changing.”

He hopes that next week’s celebrations will change the outside world’s opinion of Libya, and erode Libya’s suspicion of the outside world. He says that they will emphasise all that is good about Libya — its history, culture, scenery and warm people. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Wednesday, August 26, 2009

TIMES ONLINE:
Marching band to hit big time controversy at Gaddafi parade >>> Simon de Bruxelles | Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Why Has My Father’s Murder Gone Unpunished?
THE SPECTATOR: Huda Abuzeid, whose father was killed by the Libyan regime, says that we must not turn a blind eye to its acts of intimidation and violence

There is a joke about Libya which goes something like this: why does Libya has [sic] a population of both six million and four million? The answer is that one million are abroad and the other million are in prison.

It’s not a funny joke, but it’s a revealing one. As the country prepares to celebrate 40 years of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, and despite various of our politicians desperately trying to tell us how much Libya has changed and the numerous Sunday supplement articles extolling the virtues of Libya as a holiday destination, Libya remains one of the most intolerant, totalitarian and repressive regimes in the world. Libyan citizens regularly ‘disappear’ — arrested by the authorities. Their loved ones are often left in the dark.

Since 2003 Libya has been extolled by Britain as an example of a reformed state. Tony Blair was quick to take the credit, rushing over to Gaddafi and saying, ‘People should not forget the past, they should move beyond it.’

On hearing that, I felt physically sick. With that one sound-bite, Libyans inside the country and those who like me were living abroad knew that the political will to push for justice in the many unresolved cases was lost.

Cases such as the murder of my father, Ali Abuzeid, whose body I found in his west London shop on 26 November 1995. He had been stabbed to death. A key member of the leading Libyan opposition group in the 1980s, my father had put all his efforts into ridding his homeland of its dictator. My childhood years were spent worrying about him every time he travelled, learning to be careful around other Arabs. I once had to leave Tunisia accompanied by secret police when they found out that a hit squad had been sent to assassinate him after a failed attempt to overthrow the Libyan regime.

Back in London, I remember hearing his name mentioned in a speech by Gaddafi, who had called for him and others to be hunted down. At one point there was a bounty of millions on his head.

After years in exile and the deaths of many of his friends inside Libya who had been rounded up and executed, my father decided to retire from opposition politics. Revolution, he now believed, could only come from within, instead of being led by those in exile. However, from his shop in a neighbourhood populated with Arabs, he remained vocal about his opinions and politics and then, after years of being careful and keeping under the radar, he became an easy target.

So when I answered a call early one Sunday morning in November 1995 from one of his staff, who said the door to the shop was open but the lights were off, my heart began to pound with that familiar childhood fear for his safety. I told myself that maybe he had just fallen down some steps or that he had forgetfully left the door open. >>> Huda Abuzeid | Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Gadhafi Flails as Libya Splinters
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Forces loyal to strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi imposed rough order in Libya's increasingly fearful capital Wednesday, witnesses said, that stood in sharp contrast to rebel gains in much of the oil-rich country.

Gunshots echoed through the night in Tripoli as Col. Gadhafi clung to power even as the international community discussed ways to isolate him with sanctions. More territory slipped from his control, and rebels began to set up rudimentary governments in outlying areas under their sway. "No-one should count him out, but momentum isn't going his way," a U.S. official said.

The chaos that has consumed Libya since protesters last week began pushing for Col. Gadhafi's ouster has spawned an array of security concerns—over oil supplies, the safety of tens of thousands of foreign workers there and the risks posed by the weapons in Col. Gadhafi's remaining arsenal.

Oil prices surged over fears about the security of supplies from Libya, a major oil producer. Prices for light, sweet crude for April delivery—the main U.S. oil contract—at one point in the trading day hit $100 a barrel for the first time in more than two years.

The U.S., China, Turkey and several European nations struggled to bring home citizens stranded in Libya, where an estimated 100,000 foreigners work in industries including oil and construction. Airplanes sent from France and the Netherlands circled Tripoli's airport but had no clearance to land and turned back.

Fears also arose in Washington that Libya's regime hasn't destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents. Tripoli also has stocks of aging Scud B missiles. Read on and comment >>> Angus McDowall in Dubai, Margaret Coker in Cairo and Charles Levinson in Baida, Libya | Thursday, February 24, 2011

English-speaking Female Jihadis in Libya Issue Islamic State Call to Arms

An image supplied by Islamist media outlet Welayat Tarablos
allegedly shows Isis members parading the street in Libya's
coastal city of Sirte.

THE GUARDIAN: Three women, believed to be British, are using social media to reach out to western Muslims to open up new front in north Africa

English-speaking female jihadis have been using social media to try to lure western Muslims to join them with Islamic State in Libya, a new front in the war on terror just 400 miles from Europe’s shores.

Three native English-speaking women have been monitored for months by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a UK-based thinktank, and are believed to be British. They say they have been living in the war[-]torn north African country since at least the start of the summer.

Using a variety of social media platforms, including Twitter and encrypted messaging apps such as Surespot and Telegram, the three have reached out to their hundreds of followers, and as routes into Syria via its 500-mile border with Turkey have become further restricted they have advertised the journey to Libya as the easiest way of joining Isis’s so-called caliphate.

Isis has been in Libya for just over a year and the country is home to its largest forces outside of the Middle East. The group has its headquarters in the northern coastal town of Sirte, birthplace of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but also has a training base to the west of the capital, Tripoli.

Melanie Smith, ISD researcher and an expert in western female jihadis, said evidence of women travelling to Libya to start a new life under Isis represented a dangerous tipping point. » | Shiv Malik, and Chris Stephen in Tunis | Sunday, September 27, 2015

We Can No Longer Live Under Gaddafi's Evil Subjugation
THE GUARDIAN: Libya's oil has protected its regime from criticism abroad. But those who support democracy must back our fight for freedom

'Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt. Libya is different, if there is disturbance it will split into several states." These were the words of the son of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, on Libyan state TV on Sunday.

He is right of course; Libya is not Egypt or Tunisia. It is a country of over 600,000 sq miles of land, populated by less than 7 million people. Since 1969 it has known just one leader – a man who has shown merciless cruelty to anyone who speaks out against him, the regime or the revolution he headed. It is a country built on the foundations of tribal unity and which, despite having the largest oil reserves in Africa, continues to allow two-thirds of its citizens to live below the poverty line. It is also a country that cannot boast of long ties with Europe and the west, having only in the last few years made amends with its neighbours across the Mediterranean after years of US- and UN-imposed sanctions.

After "coming in from the cold" in 2004, European ties with Libya developed rapidly. As it stands Libya is the third biggest supplier of oil to Europe, having recently surpassed Saudi Arabia. Its proximity to Europe, its unexplored terrain and its relative lack of foreign investment made Libya a gem worth cultivating to the oil-dependent economies of the west. The fact that its leader may publicly hang dissident students was of no great concern as long as his philosophy of intolerance extended to, and adequately suppressed, the supposed extreme "threat" of Islamism.

However, the events of the last few days have forced world leaders to re-examine their relationship with the crumbling regime. Accounts of unprovoked sniper attacks on peaceful demonstrators, the use of violent foreign mercenaries as a means of crowd control, live ammunition being shot into crowds of protesters, and the media blackout that tried (unsuccessfully) to prevent the world from finding out, has brought about new focus and attention to the plight of the Libyan people and to the reaction of their inhumane leader.

As he addressed the nation, Saif's feebly masked threats were received angrily by protesters in the streets. His claims that the celebrations of the people of Benghazi, Darnah and al-Bayda had been brought about by drunk and drugged youths led to furious chanting and jeering against Gaddafi and his son. His warnings of the possibility of separatism and civil war evoked slogans emphasising the unity of the Libyan people and their intention to support each other till they had achieved victory. >>> Mohamed Abdul Malek | Monday, February 21, 2011

World Waits to See if Colonel Gaddafi Invites Lockerbie Bomber to Libya's Biggest Party
The streets of Tripoli are covered in images of Colonel Gaddafi. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: It will be the biggest party Libya has ever thrown, and the whole world is invited. Whether next week’s jamboree to mark Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40 years in power completes his country’s journey from pariah-hood to respectability depends on one question: will the Lockerbie bomber be among the guests of honour?

“Why not?,” replied one Libyan official when asked whether Africa’s longest-serving leader would invite Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to appear alongside him at next Monday’s celebrations.

“It would be daft,” countered a Western official, who said that an appearance by al-Megrahi would deepen the outrage engendered in the US and Britain by his rapturous welcome home last week. European contractors brought in to organise the extravaganza strongly hope that Libya’s notoriously flamboyant and unpredictable leader does not take a step that would undermine all that they are trying to achieve. But, one admitted: “No one knows what he’ll do.”

The celebrations are entitled "Celebrate Libya" and intended to mark not just the 40th anniversary of the coup that overthrew King Idris and brought Colonel Gaddafi to power, but Libya’s final break with its dark, terrorist-sponsoring, WMD-building, West-baiting past.

It has invited heads of state or government from every country and expects 60 or 70 to attend. These include most African leaders, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Russia’s Prime Minister Putin, President Sarkozy of France and the King and Queen of Spain (they will each be given solid gold pendants in the shape of Africa with Libya marked by diamonds). Following the row over al-Megrahi’s jubilant homecoming, however, Britain and America are likely to be represented only by their ambassadors.

Libya is taking the almost unprecedented step of admitting scores of journalists and television crews from around the world, and it is sparing no expense to ensure that its guests are suitably dazzled.

An army of workers is planting thousands of palm trees along Tripoli’s long-neglected seafront, laying acres of grass on arid sand and resurfacing miles of road. Yet more are installing ornate streetlamps, removing rubbish, refurbishing hotels, demolishing or concealing unsightly buildings and painting others a brilliant white.

The streets are festooned with green flags and festive illuminations. Hot-air balloons bearing impossibly youthful pictures of Colonel Gaddafi have sprouted like mushrooms across Green Square. The city is plastered with hoardings displaying the great man in various triumphant poses and curious sartorial attires, and extolling his leadership with slogans such as “It is an honour to live in your country” or “Without you the impossible would not happen”. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Monday, August 24, 2009

How Qatar Is Funding the Rise of Islamist Extremists

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The fabulously wealthy Gulf state, which owns an array of London landmarks and claims to be one of our best friends in the Middle East, is a prime sponsor of violent Islamists

Few outsiders have noticed, but radical Islamists now control Libya's capital. These militias stormed Tripoli last month, forcing the official government to flee and hastening the country's collapse into a failed state.

Moreover, the new overlords of Tripoli are allies of Ansar al-Sharia, a brutal jihadist movement suspected of killing America's then ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and of trying to murder his British counterpart, Sir Dominic Asquith.

Barely three years after Britain helped to free Libya from Col Gaddafi's tyranny, anti-Western radicals hold sway. How could Britain's goal of a stable and friendly Libya have been thwarted so completely?

Step forward a fabulously wealthy Gulf state that owns an array of London landmarks and claims to be one of our best friends in the Middle East.

Qatar, the owner of Harrods, has dispatched cargo planes laden with weapons to the victorious Islamist coalition, styling itself "Libya Dawn".

Western officials have tracked the Qatari arms flights as they land in the city of Misrata, about 100 miles east of Tripoli, where the Islamist militias have their stronghold. Even after the fall of the capital and the removal of Libya's government, Qatar is "still flying in weapons straight to Misrata airport", said a senior Western official.

So it is that Qatar buys London property while working against British interests in Libya and arming friends of the jihadists who tried to kill one of our ambassadors. A state that partly owns 1 Hyde Park, London's most expensive apartment block, and the Shard, the city's tallest building, is working with people who would gladly destroy Western society. » | David Blair and Richard Spencer | Saturday, September 20, 2014

Libya: BP Suspends Operations and Evacuates Staff
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: BP, the oil giant, has said today that it is suspending operations in Libya and evacuating expatriate staff and their families amid the escalating violence.

The British company said 40 expat staff and their families, mostly based in the capital, Tripoli, are being evacuated as it temporarily shuts down work on preparations to drill in the Libyan desert.

The move halts operations in the North African county just four years after it returned from a 30-year hiatus.

BP signed a deal worth at least 900 million US dollars (£550 million) in 2007 to explore in Libya.

It said it would monitor the situation on a daily basis and could not confirm when work would start again, but stressed that offshore operations in the region were still open and the closure would not impact oil production. Read on and comment >>> | MOonday, Februar 21, 2011

Libya: 'Vicious Repression Is Appalling', Says David Cameron
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The violent actions undertaken by the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya were “completely appalling”, David Cameron said on Monday.

The Prime Minister urged a “reform not repression” response from the regime to popular uprisings, as forces battled protesters in the capital Tripoli.

Amid a wave of protests across the region, Mr Cameron condemned the "completely appalling" violence which has reportedly left up to 200 dead and scores more injured in Libya.

"Our message, as it has been throughout this – I think we have been extremely consistent in saying that the response to the aspirations people are showing on the streets of these countries must be one of reform not repression,” Mr Cameron told reporters on Monday during an official visit to Egypt.

"We can see what is happening in Libya which completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country – which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic – make progress.

"The response they have shown has been quite appalling.” >>> James Kirkup, in Cairo and Andrew Hough | Monday, February 21, 2011

Special Report: The Libya Investment Firm and the Release of the Lockerbie Bomber
THE TELEGRAPH: Americans are questioning why a company was set up in London a week after news broke that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, may be released.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in Tripoli. Photo: The Telegraph
The terraced house just around the corner from the American embassy in London looks like most in the affluent street. Tall and elegant, only the shiny brass plaque gives a clue to what lies beyond the black front door.

The name reads Dalia Advisory Limited, a company established by Libyan businessmen just a week after the country's officials were told the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was being considered for release on compassionate grounds.

Dalia Advisory is in fact a "front" for the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), a sovereign wealth fund with £80 billion, to invest in Britain and beyond. The Georgian town house, bought for £6 million, is, ironically, only a few yards from the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.

Senior business sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that had Megrahi died in a British jail, the LIA would have taken its vast sums elsewhere. "If Megrahi had perished in Scotland, we would have become a pariah state as far as the Libyans were concerned," said one source.

Oliver Miles, a former ambassador to Libya and now deputy chairman of the Libyan British Business Council, said: "At the time of his release everyone knew that if he died in a Scottish jail, it would be bad for our relations."

But some 1,500 miles from the LIA's Mayfair headquarters, Megrahi, 58, is clinging defiantly to life despite his terminal cancer – much to the embarrassment of the authorities in Britain.

The former Libyan intelligence officer is living at government expense in a prosperous Tripoli suburb in a two-storey villa surrounded by gardens, where he is looked after by his wife, their five children and a team of medics.

He enjoys superstar status, repeatedly feted as a "much-loved" hero of the Libyan people. According to Megrahi's family, he has received up to 30,000 house guests – a white tent was erected in the garden for visitors – while newborn babies across Libya have been named after him. Gaddafi family members have also made several private visits, friends say.

But he is said to be lower in spirits than when he first arrived home, and does not leave the house – spending much of his time propped up in bed, sedated for the pain.

Prof Karol Sikora, one of the doctors who suggested Megrahi had just three months to live, insists that there is no miraculous recovery. "I am well-informed he is dying; he is just not dying as fast as we predicted," he said. Scottish authorities insist that the study by Prof Sikora and two other doctors, which was paid for by Libya, had not been considered and was not a contributory factor to Megrahi's release.

However long Megrahi now survives, the fact is business between Britain and Libya is currently booming. British exports to Libya are now double what they were a year ago while imports from Libya have risen three fold. In the first two months of this year alone, the UK exported £110 million of goods and services. >>> Robert Mendick, Philip Sherwell in New York and Andrew Alderson | Saturday, July 24, 2010

NZZ am SONNTAG: BP und der kranke Attentäter: Laut Libyen befindet sich Lockerbie-Attentäter im Sterben – Die Ölfirma BP hat sich vor fast einem Jahr für die Begnadigung des todkranken Terroristen al-Megrahi eingesetzt. Nach den Prognosen müsste der Libyer heute längst tot sein. >>> Kristina Bergmann, Kairo | Sonntag, 25. Juli 2010

Inside Libya: How Battle for Oil Has Left Country Close to Collapse

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: In the first of a series of exclusive reports from Ruth Sherlock in Libya, the resource-rich country's oil minister warns that it will run out of money in 18 months as post-Gaddafi anarchy threatens to turn it into "another Somalia"

Libya will "run out of money" in 18 months despite once being one of Africa's richest countries, officials have told The Telegraph as internecine fighting grinds its oil and gas industry to a halt.

Mashala Zwai, the oil minister for one of Libya's two rival governments, warned that the country was becoming "a second Somalia".

"This is a critical time in a critical situation," said Mr Zwai, speaking from the Tripoli offices of the National Oil Corporation, which manages Libya's energy sector. "By next year the state will not be able to pay Libyans' salaries."

Oil battlefields

With the government split into two rival authorities, Libya's oil installations are becoming battlefields where affiliated militias vie for power.

They are also the focus of attacks by Islamist extremists, including a local branch of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), who are thriving in the country's state of lawlessness. » | Ruth Sherlock, near Sidra, Libya, video by Sam Tarling | Monday, March 09, 2015

SAS Training Soldiers from Libyan Regime that Provided Explosives to IRA Terrorists
TIMES ONLINE: Special forces have been training Libyan soldiers under a Government deal with Colonel Gaddafi, despite his regime having funded many of the IRA’s worst attacks.

SAS soldiers said there was a “weary rolling of the eyes” when they learnt that they would be passing on some of their skills to members of the Libyan infantry.

In the 1980s and 1990s Libya supplied the IRA with Semtex used in at least ten attacks, including the bombings of Harrods in 1983 and Warrington and the City of London ten years later. It was also used by the Real IRA at Omagh in 1998.

Libya also supplied machine guns and anti-aircraft missiles fired at British troops in Northern Ireland.

“The IRA was our greatest adversary. Now we are training their backers. There was a weary rolling of the eyes when we were told about this,” an SAS source told The Daily Telegraph.

“A small SAS training team have been doing it for the last six months as part of this cosy deal with the Libyans,” said another.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We have an ongoing co-operation with Libya in the field of defence”.

This had been the case since the former rogue state announced in 2003 that it would abandon development of weapons of mass destruction. The Ministry of Defence refused to comment. >>> Sadie Gray | Saturday, September 12, 2009

Now the SAS Has to Train Libyan Troops
MAIL ONLINE: The SAS is training Libyan troops, it emerged last night.

The elite special forces unit has been passing on its combat expertise to Colonel Gaddafi's soldiers for the last six months.

The move, another sign of the growing relationship between the UK and the oil-rich country, has appalled military veterans who recall how Libya supplied the Provisional IRA with guns and explosives to kill British soldiers.

Though the Ministry of Defence refused to comment, the Foreign Office confirmed last night: 'We have got an ongoing co-operation with Libya in the field of defence.'

The spokesman denied there was any connection with the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds last month.

The first moves towards setting up the training agreement are believed to have begun after Tony Blair visited Libya as Prime Minister in 2004.

However, the deal was only finalised and officially approved by Gordon Brown earlier this year. It is believed that a team of between four and 14 men is training the Libyans in counter-terrorism techniques, including covert surveillance.

But not everything that the SAS has learned from fighting Islamic terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to be passed on.

The agreement is bound to devastate families of the Lockerbie victims and further damage relations with America. >>> Ryan Kisiel and Claire Ellicott | Saturday, September 12, 2009

Amnesty: Libya Rights Reform Stalling, Migrants in Fear
BBC: African migrants in Libya are "living in constant fear", a report by UK-based Amnesty International says.

The campaign group said the North African country's record on human rights falls well short of efforts to repair its image in the world.

It documents indefinite detentions, flogging for adultery, the continued disappearance of dissidents, and the security forces' immunity from justice.

The report is partially based on a week-long visit to Libya in May 2009.

It was the first trip of its kind in five years, facilitated by the Gaddafi Foundation - run by one of the Libyan leader's sons, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Analysts say he is keen to to liberalise the country, once a pariah state accused of promoting terrorism to threaten Western interests but now seen as a vital source of oil and gas resources and investment opportunities.

"If Libya is to have any international credibility, the authorities must ensure that no-one is above the law and that everyone, including the most vulnerable and marginalised, is protected by the law," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa deputy director said in a statement.

"The repression of dissent must end," she said.

"Libya's international partners cannot ignore Libya's dire human rights record at the expense of their national interests." >>> | Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Medics Imprisoned in Libya Arrive in Bulgaria, Free
BBC: Six Bulgarian medical workers who were imprisoned in Libya for deliberately infecting children with HIV have arrived in Bulgaria after being freed.

The five nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, who served eight years of the life sentences they received, had always maintained they were innocent.

All six were pardoned on their arrival by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

The EU's External Affairs Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, made many trips to Libya, meeting the prisoners and working to improve conditions for children infected with HIV/Aids.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, were also involved in the final negotiations.

Mr Sarkozy is now scheduled to visit Libya on Wednesday and meet the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, to discuss Tripoli's re-integration into the international community. HIV medics released to Bulgaria (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Libya releases HIV medics

Mark Alexander

Gaddafi Forces Mass as World Raises Pressure on Libya

REUTERS: Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were massed in the west of the country on Tuesday, residents said, and the United States said it was moving warships and air forces closer to Libya.

Residents feared pro-Gaddafi forces were preparing an attack to regain control of Nalut, about 60 km (38 miles) from the Tunisian border in western Libya, from protesters seeking an end to Gaddafi's rule.

The United States and other foreign governments discussed military options on Monday for dealing with Libya as Gaddafi scoffed at the threat to his government from a popular uprising.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Gaddafi was "disconnected from reality," was "slaughtering his own people" and was unfit to lead.

She said Washington was in talks with its NATO partners and other allies about military options. The United States also said about $30 billion in assets in the United States had been blocked from access by Gaddafi and his family.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would work to prepare for a "no-fly" zone in Libya to protect the people from attacks by Gaddafi's forces.

Gaddafi rejected calls for him to step down and dismissed the strength of the uprising against his 41-year rule that has ended his control over eastern Libya and is closing in on the capital Tripoli.

"All my people love me. They would die to protect me," he told the U.S. ABC network and the BBC on Monday.

He denied using his air force to attack protesters but said planes had bombed military sites and ammunition depots. He also denied there had been demonstrations and said young people were given drugs by al Qaeda and therefore took to the streets. Libyan forces had orders not to fire back at them, he said. >>> Maria Golovnina | Tripoli | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Libya's Civil War Shrinks Christian Communities
AL-MASRY AL-YOUM: Tripoli -- With most of his flock having fled Libya's violence, Tripoli's Roman Catholic bishop now focuses on keeping the power struggle between Muammar Qadhafi and anti-government rebels out of his church.
But it's getting harder.

After a recent Mass, several Muslim women, all Qadhafi supporters, followed Bishop Giovanni Martinelli into the vestry, tearfully demanding that he call the Vatican to get the pope to halt NATO airstrikes.

Some of his parishioners, especially African migrant workers, have been using his St. Francis Church as a sanctuary, saying they dread going into the streets because they are frequently stopped and harassed by Qadhafi's security forces.

The war has hit hard Christian communities in Tripoli, which include African migrant laborers, Filipino health care workers and European expatriates, among them foreign women married to Libyan men. Libya is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, and missionary activity is not allowed, though clergy say the regime has respected Christians' freedom of worship.

Martinelli and the head of the five other churches in Tripoli — all led by foreign clergy with congregations made up almost entirely of foreigners -- have staked out a cautious middle ground in the conflict that has split Libya into a Qadhafi-controlled west and a rebel-run east.

In a statement this week, just before Sunday's start of Easter Week, the Tripoli churches called for an immediate cease-fire and said dialogue is the only way to end the two-month-old crisis.

Attempts to dislodge Qadhafi by force will only make him more determined to hang on, said Martinelli, an Italian who came to Libya just a year after Qadhafi seized power in 1969.

"He is a Bedouin, he is very strong," the bishop said, tapping his forehead to illustrate hard-headedness. » | AP | Sunday, April 17, 2011

WIKI: Christianity in Libya »