Saturday, September 17, 2011

Libya: Tony Blair and Col Gaddafi's Secret Meetings

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New questions over Tony Blair's ties to Col Muammar Gaddafi and his role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber have emerged from documents discovered in Tripoli.

The letters and emails, found by The Sunday Telegraph, show Mr Blair held secret talks with Gaddafi in the months before Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was freed from a British jail.

He was flown to Libya twice at Gaddafi's expense on one of the former dictator's private jets - visiting the him in June 2008 and April 2009, when Libya was threatening to cut all business links if Megrahi stayed in a British jail.

The disclosure of the meetings – of which Mr Blair makes no mention on his various websites – prompted calls by relatives of Lockerbie victims for Mr Blair to make public all his dealings with Gaddafi and his regime. Mr Blair even brought an American billionaire to one of the meetings. Sources say the financier was asked by Gaddafi for help in building beach resorts on the Libyan coast.

In the correspondence, Mr Blair's private office refers to Gaddafi deferentially as "The Leader". Pam Dix, whose brother died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on Dec 21 1988, said yesterday: "The idea of Gaddafi paying for Mr Blair's visit is deeply offensive.

"These new meetings between Mr Blair and Gaddafi are disturbing, and details of what was discussed should now be made public. I am astonished Tony Blair continued to have meetings like this out of office." » | Colin Freeman, in Tripoli and Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, September 17, 2011