Moussa Koussa Profile: High-profile Lockerbie Spymaster
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, was one of the architects of its rehabilitation in the international community but a deeply controversial figure who is likely to pose David Cameron a particularly thorny political problem.

As the highest-profile defection from the ranks of Col Gaddafi's loyalists, he is a plum prize who is likely to be of great value in helping to dismantle his dictatorship.

The former spy chief's resignation also comes at a critical time in the coalition's attempts to dislodge Col Gaddafi, as the rebels are retreating under fresh onslaughts and Whitehall sources suggested they were unlikely to win without arms or training from outside.

So his information and contacts among Col Gaddafi's generals will be all the more valuable.

However, the former head of Libya's external intelligence, was the mastermind accused of planning the Lockerbie bombing and any attempts to rehabilitate him are likely to be an exceedingly hot potato.

Mr Koussa has been a close confidant of Col Gaddafi's for 30 years and helped secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Continue reading and comment » | Andy Bloxham, and Damien McElroy | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya: Moussa Koussa resigns – factbox: Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in Britain on Wednesday and has quit Muammar Gaddafi's government, according to the Government » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa Defects to Britain
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya's foreign minister will be questioned by the Foreign Office today after defecting to Britain from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government.

Moussa Koussa flew into Britain yesterday and told officials "no longer willing" to serve the regime, in a significant blow to the dictator.

The move was welcomed in Whitehall where fears have been growing that poorly organised Libyan rebels cannot defeat Gaddafi without being given arms or training on the ground.

"We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

David Cameron had earlier admitted that the Government was considering arming the rebels following talks in London with Libyan opposition leaders.

Rebel forces were forced to retreat again and surrendered several towns in the face of heavy resistance from troops loyal to the regime. » | Thomas Harding, and Robert Winnett | Thursday, March 31, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Libya: Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi's foreign minister, defects to UK – Moussa Koussa says he is no longer willing to represent the regime in a morale boost for the rebels » | Patrick Wintour , Richard Norton-Taylor , Nick Hopkins , and Chris McGreal in Ajdabiya | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Gaddafi Issues Defiant Challenge to Libya Conference in London
THE GUARDIAN: Libyan leader condemns 'crusader strategy' amid speculation that his foreign minister has defected

Muammar Gaddafi told the London conference discussing Libya's future without him that there was no room for compromise with the Benghazi-based rebels, whom he described bluntly as al-Qaida terrorists supported by Nato and representing no one.

Far from showing any sign of bending to demands from Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders that he step down, Gaddafi issued a characteristically defiant challenge to what he called a "new crusader strategy or imperialist plan".

But three powerful explosions that shook Tripoli in mid-afternoon – apparently the first daylight attack in 10 days of UN-mandated air strikes – seemed to presage a possible escalation of the conflict. Libyan officials made no comment.

In another dramatic development, there was speculation that Gaddafi's foreign minister, Mousa Kousa, might have defected during a visit to Tunisia.

The Libyan leader warned that the UN-imposed no-fly zone would turn north Africa into "a second Afghanistan" in an extraordinary letter sent to the European Parliament, the US Congress and "the Europeans" meeting in London.

"Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya," he wrote. "Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida."

The full text shows the Libyan leader to be baffled by the ingratitude of the world towards him after years of rapprochement and utterly dismissive of concerns about the use of violence against his own people. » | Ian Black in Tripoli | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Yemen Military Figures Switch Sides
High profile members of Yemen's military have defected to support the anti-government protesters

Yemen Troops Join Anti-Government Protesters
Several senior Yemen Army commanders are reported to have turned against the government and joined protesters

Related »

Top Yemeni General, Ali Mohsen, Announces Defection
BBC: Key Yemeni General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who is close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, says he has joined the protest movement against the regime.

Two other army commanders are also reported to have resigned.

The announcement comes a day after the president dismissed his entire cabinet in apparent response to the protests against his rule. He asked them to stay in place in a caretaker capacity.

Meanwhile in the north, 20 people have been killed in fighting, reports say.

Fighting between Shia rebels, Yemeni troops and their tribal allies erupted over a north Yemen military site at the entrance to the northern province of al-Jawf, military and tribal sources are quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

'Preserving stability'

Gen Mohsen is the commanding officer of a division of the army which has sent units to a main square in the capital, Sanaa, where protests have taken place.

"The crisis is getting more complicated and it's pushing the country towards violence and civil war," the general - who commands an armoured infantry division - said in a statement broadcast by al-Jazeera television.

"According to what I'm feeling, and according to the feelings of my partner commanders and soldiers... I announce our support and our peaceful backing to the youth revolution... We are going to fulfil our duties in preserving security and stability."

A BBC correspondent says that one by one, the pillars of President Saleh's power are being knocked away. » | Monday, March 21, 2011

Libya: UK Officials Tell Gaddafi Loyalists to Defect or Face War Crimes Trial
THE GUARDIAN: • SAS on standby to rescue trapped Britons 
• Leader says Libya will be 'red with fire'

British officials are contacting senior Libyan regime figures directly to persuade them to desert Muammar Gaddafi or face trial alongside him for crimes against humanity, the Guardian has learned.

With SAS troops and paratroopers on standby to rescue an estimated 150 Britons at workplaces in the Libyan desert, contingency measures were being drawn up to close the British embassy in Tripoli to pre-empt possible reprisals.

But the Foreign Office denied reports that the embassy would be closed as soon as this weekend. "We will react to the situation as it unfolds on the ground. If it gets too dangerous for our people to be there, of course we will pull them out of there. But are we planning to close the embassy down? No," a spokesman said. The US said it was closing its embassy in Tripoli as well as imposing limited unilateral sanctions on Libya.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, urged Britons still in Tripoli to board the last UK-sponsored chartered flight out of the capital at first light. He said HMS Cumberland would return to Benghazi on Sunday to pick up any remaining Britons there, but added that those in the desert remained Britain's biggest worry. All options were being considered, he said.

There were reports that two RAF helicopters had arrived in Malta in what may be the next stage of preparations to airlift some UK oil workers.

Britain's direct warnings to Libyan officials coincided with a joint British and French draft UN security council resolution the Libyan leadership to face war crimes prosecutions at the international criminal court for attacks on protesters. The resolution also called for travel bans and asset freezes for Libya's leaders.

Gaddafi showed no sign of heeding the warnings. Reports said that gunmen in cars in the capital, Tripoli, opened fire on protesters as they emerged from Friday prayers.

Nearby, in Green Square, the Libyan leader made another defiant televised appearance, promising to arm his supporters. "Retaliate against them, retaliate against them," he told a crowd of loyalists from the ramparts of a crusader fort overlooking the square. "Dance, sing and prepare. Prepare to defend Libya, to defend the oil, dignity and independence."

Wearing a fur-lined cap and sunglasses, and flanked by bodyguards, Gaddafi declared: "At the suitable time we will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red with fire." >>> Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger | Friday, February 25, 2011

The Cracks Are Now Showing in the Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: A parish in Kent is shifting allegiance to Rome and, with many more likely to follow, Anglicanism is feeling the strain. Tim Ross reports.

Shortly after eight o'clock one spring morning in 2007, an earthquake struck the parish church of St Peter in Folkestone, bringing down the gable-end of the south transept.

Three years later, the 19th-century church, which opened as a chapel for local fishermen, has caused tremors of its own, becoming the first parish in England to declare its intention to defect to Rome. Within hours of the news emerging last Friday, the Bishop of Fulham announced that he, too, will take up the Pope's offer to join a new structure within the Roman Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans.

Some are now talking openly of an "exodus" from the Anglican Communion next year, with thousands following Folkestone's lead. The Archbishop of Canterbury, from whose back yard the revolt has sprung, can be in little doubt about the seriousness of the threat. >>> Tim Ross | Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Saudi Arabia's Juggling Act on Homosexuality
THE GUARDIAN: As a gay diplomat seeks US asylum, Saudi Arabia seems torn between wanting a civilised image and appeasing traditionalists

Saudi Arabia may be a miserable place to live, but it's not very often that a Saudi diplomat seeks refuge in the United States. The last time it happened was in 1994.

At the weekend, though, it emerged that Ali Ahmad Asseri, first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has applied for asylum in the US on the grounds that he is gay. He says his employers have refused to renew his diplomatic passport – effectively terminating his job – after finding out about his sexuality. He adds they were also unhappy about his friendship with a Jewish woman.

The Saudis are reportedly demanding his return to the kingdom, where Asseri fears he would be killed "in broad daylight".

The conservative American Thinker website is rather excited about this and suggests it "will pose a real problem for the Obama administration, which loves to cozy up to (and bow before) Saudi power" – though I doubt that it will.

If American officials accept Asseri's story he is almost certain to be granted asylum. The Saudis may grumble a bit about that for the sake of appearances, but letting him stay in the US would spare them the embarrassing and potentially damaging question of what to do about him if he returned home.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Asseri is the first Saudi ever to publicly declare himself gay. So, in a way, this is uncharted territory – but territory where the authorities in Riyadh would probably rather not go. If he went home they would either have to charge him or provide him with lifelong protection – and no matter which course they chose, it would anger someone. >>> Brian Whitaker | Monday, September 13, 2010

Related >>>

Iranian Diplomat 'Defects’ in Protest at Regime
THE TELEGRAPH: An Iranian diplomat in Finland claims he has defected after quitting his job in protest at the Islamic Republic’s treatment of its citizens.

Hossein Alizadeh said he had held the No. 2 post at the embassy in the Finnish capital Helsinki as deputy head of mission. He said he informed the embassy four days ago of his decision to quit after staying off the job for nearly a month.

“I don’t consider myself anymore a diplomat standing beside a brutal Iranian regime,” Mr Alizadeh said, declaring himself a “political dissident”. >>> | Saturday, September 11, 2010

Iranian Scientist Was CIA Mole
THE TELEGRAPH: The scientist claiming to have been kidnapped and tortured by the United States was a CIA mole who spied on Iran's nuclear programme for several years, American officials have said.

Shahram Amiri arrives at Imam Khomini Airport with his wife and son. Photo: The Telegraph
Shahram Amiri was a vital source whose "significant, original" intelligence allowed his US minders to build up a comprehensive assessment of Iran's clandestine nuclear capabilities, the officials claimed.

The allegations are the latest twist in an increasingly perplexing saga that has embarrassed the United States and prompted jubilant crowing in Iran, which has long maintained that the CIA kidnapped Mr Amiri during a visit to Saudi Arabia last year.

Mr Amiri was reunited with his wife and seven-year-old-son after flying back to a hero's welcome in Iran on Thursday. He repeated allegations that he had been abducted, tortured by Israeli and American officers, and later offered $10 million (£6.5 million) to say that he had come to the United States of his own volition.

But US officials told the New York Times that Mr Amiri had in fact been a long-serving CIA asset working under cover at Tehran's Malek Ashtar university. >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, July 16, 2010

Related articles and videos here

Iran Scientist: CIA Offered Me $50m to Lie About Nuclear Secrets
THE INDEPENDENT: An Iranian scientist who says he was abducted and taken to the United States by the CIA returned to Tehran yesterday to a hero's welcome and claimed that he had been pressured into lying about his country's nuclear programme.

Shahram Amiri said that he was on the hajj pilgrimage when he was seized at gunpoint in the city of Medina, drugged and taken to the US, where he says Israel was involved in his interrogation. In the US, officials were reported to have admitted that Mr Amiri was paid more than $5m (£3.2m) by the CIA for information about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The US claims to have received useful information from him in return for the money, but is clearly embarrassed by his very public return to Iran. The offer of a large bribe is reportedly part of a special US programme to get Iranian nuclear scientists to defect.

Flashing a victory sign, Mr Amiri returned to Tehran International Airport to be greeted by senior officials and by his tearful wife and seven-year-old son, whom he had not seen since he disappeared in Saudi Arabia during a visit 14 months ago. Iran said it was demanding information about what had happened to him.

The US says that he entered the US of his own free will and had relocated to Tucson, Arizona. The US is claiming that Mr Amiri, who had worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, re-defected because pressure was placed on his family back in Iran, something he denied yesterday. Officials suggested that Iran had used his family to get him to leave the US. >>> Patrick Cockburn | Friday, July 16, 2010

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Missing Iranian Scientist Arrives Home: A missing Iranian scientist who claims he was kidnapped by the United States returns to Iran, as U.S official says he provided "useful" information


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Iranian Nuclear Scientist Recounts 'CIA Abduction'
THE TELEGRAPH: Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist, has described the moment he claims to have been abducted at gunpoint by the CIA while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Amiri, 32, said he was seized and spirited from the country after being offered a lift while walking towards a mosque.

He gave his account before flying home to Iran on Wednesday after taking refuge at the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington earlier this week.

The US state department has insisted he was in the US of his own free will but Mr Amiri said he was kidnapped by secret agents in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, in May last year.

"A white van stopped in front of me... They told me in Farsi that they were part of another group of pilgrims and said 'We are going towards a mosque and we will be happy to take you as well'," he said.

"When I opened the door to get in and sit down, the person at the back put a gun to my side and said 'Please be quiet, don't make any noise'.

"As I opened the door, one of the passengers pulled out a gun and told me to be quiet. They gave me an injection and when I came around I was in a big plane. I was blindfolded. It was probably a military plane."

He said he was taken to "American territory" and put under intense psychological pressure to accept $10 million to make a video saying he had defected from Iran.

He was then allowed to settle in Tucson, Arizona, and live relatively freely on condition he did not talk about his abduction. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Iranian Scientist: Kidnapped or Studying?


Related >>>

Iranian Nuclear Scientist Shahram Amiri Heads Home
THE GUARDIAN: Iran had accused US and Saudi Arabia of his abduction, but US says he was always free to come and go

An Iranian nuclear scientist who disappeared more than a year ago and mysteriously turned up in Washington is on his way back to Iran via a third country, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman has said.

"With the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran and effective co-operation of Pakistan's embassy in Washington, a few minutes ago Shahram Amiri left American soil and is heading back to Iran via a third country," the semi-official news agency ISNA quoted him as saying. He did not name the country.

Another Iranian official on Tuesday said Tehran could enlist Turkey's help to return Amiri to Iran. Ramin Mehmanparast said the foreign ministry would pursue the case through legal and diplomatic channels regarding the part the US government played in what Iran says was Amiri's abduction.

Iran had accused Saudi Arabia of handing Shahram Amiri to the US after he disappeared during the hajj pilgrimage a year ago. Amiri subsequently appeared in a series of internet videos, some of which said he was in hiding from US agents.

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said: "Mr Amiri has been in the United States of his own free will and he is free to go. In fact he was scheduled to travel to Iran yesterday but was unable to make all of the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through a transit country."

Clinton called on Tehran to release three American hikers being held in Iran and to provide more information on the former FBI agent Robert Levinson who disappeared during a business trip to Iran.

Referring to Amiri, Clinton said: "He's free to go, he was free to come, these decisions are his alone to make." >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor, Saeed Shah in Islamabad and agencies | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Missing Iranian Scientist in U.S.


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Iranian Scientist ‘Free to Go’


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'Abducted' Iranian Nuclear Scientist 'Seeks Refuge in Pakistan Embassy in Washington'
THE TELEGRAPH: An Iranian nuclear scientist claimed by Tehran to have been abducted by the United States has sought refuge in the Pakistan embassy in Washington, state television said on Tuesday.

In a dramatic development in a long-running mystery, Shahram Amiri was said to be demanding to be allowed to return home.

Mr Amiri disappeared last year while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Iran claimed he had been seized by the Saudi intelligence services working in collaboration with the CIA.

Washington said such claims were "ridiculous" but shed no light on what happened to him. The American television channel ABC reported it had been told by official sources that he had defected voluntarily and was providing information to the US authorities.

Intelligence websites said he had been "turned" while on trips to Frankfurt and Vienna, and had provided detailed information on the secret uranium enrichment plant the Iranians were discovered to be building near the holy city of Qom.

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since the Islamic revolution in 1979, and national interests are looked after by the Pakistan embassy in Washington and the Swiss embassy in Tehran respectively.

Mehr, an Iranian news agency, reported on Tuesday morning that Mr Amiri, a nuclear researcher at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University who also worked for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, "went to Iran's interest section and asked for a quick return to Tehran". >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Related articles >>>

Hundreds of Traditionalist Clergy Poised to Leave Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of traditionalist clergy are set to leave the Church of England over plans to introduce women bishops.

Leading Anglo-Catholic clergy warned that the failure to provide concessions to opponents of the historic reform would force many of them to defect to Rome.

In a highly-charged debate at the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, members rejected a compromise deal put forward by the archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have averted a schism.

The archbishops’ plans would have seen the creation of a new class of male-only bishops to look after conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes opposed to female leadership in the Church.

Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.

“People’s patience is running out and many will now be asking whether they should try and practice their Catholic faith in the Church of England,” he said.

“The vote was a severe blow to the archbishop [of Canterbury] and it has pushed us closer to the door.” >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, July 12, 2010

A Divided Church Faces Its Darkest Hour
THE TELEGRAPH: By rejecting a compromise over women bishops, the General Synod has plunged the Anglican Church into crisis. Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports.

Humiliated: the authority of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been wounded by his defeat in the Synod Photo: The Telegraph
On Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury suffered the most humiliating defeat of his time in office when the Church rejected his compromise deal over women bishops. It followed a week in which Rowan Williams had found himself at the centre of a storm over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John, the homosexual Dean of St Albans, to be Bishop of Southwark.

Castigated by liberals who accused him of betraying his old friend by not securing his promotion, the Archbishop arrived at the General Synod in York also facing a mutiny over his plans to avert an exodus of traditionalists opposed to women's ordination.

On the eve of one of the most pivotal debates in the Church's recent history, liberal bishops had met to discuss how they would derail proposals put forward by Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

They were well aware of the impact that their rebellion would have on Dr Williams's authority. But they were still prepared to take drastic action because of their despair at his suggestion that a new tier of male-only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists. This would undermine the role of women bishops, they believed. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Monday, July 12, 2010

Bishops' Defection: A Major New Blow to the Anglican Church
THE TELEGRAPH: When hundreds of Church of England clergy defected to the Roman Catholic Church nearly 20 years ago, it dealt a damaging blow to Anglican unity and strained relations between the two Churches.

These relations will now be stretched to breaking point with the revelation that the Vatican is secretly plotting with English bishops over plans for a new wave of converts.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has already expressed his dismay at the way Pope Benedict XVI last year made his offer to disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic Church[.]

He would have been encouraged by the lack of clergy who have so far responded to the invitation, but The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that schemes to allow for an exodus of Anglican priests are being discussed at the highest levels of the Vatican.

This is likely to prove highly embarrassing for the Pope and deepen suspicions that he is preparing to poach clergy from England only months before he visits Britain. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, May 02, 2010

Anglican Bishops in Secret Vatican Summit
THE TELEGRAPH: Leading traditionalist bishops in the Anglican Church have secretly told senior Vatican officials that they are ready to defect to Rome, taking clergy with them.

In a move likely to raise tensions between the two Churches, a group of Church of England bishops met last week with advisers of Pope Benedict XVI to set in motion steps that would allow priests to convert to Catholicism en masse.

They are set to resign their orders in opposition to the introduction of women bishops and to lead an exodus of Anglican clerics to the Catholic Church despite Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, urging them not to leave.

It would be the first time for nearly 20 years that large numbers of priests have crossed from the Church of England to Rome, and comes only weeks ahead of a crucial General Synod debate on making women bishops. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, May 01, 2010