Libya's Foreign Minister (And Gaddafi Right Hand Man) 'Defects To UK' (He's In London Now)

[Turborama]

Source: Sky News

10:00pm UK, Wednesday March 30, 2011

Libya's foreign minister has arrived in the UK after defecting from Colonel Gaddafi's regime, according to reports.

Questions were earlier raised about the whereabouts of Musa Kusa after he was reported by a Tunisian news agency to have headed to London on a flight from the country.

A Libyan government spokesman later said he had not defected and was on a "diplomatic mission", but declined to say where he was going. Another report said one of his closest allies had confirmed he was in Britain seeking refuge.

Noman Benotman, a friend and analyst at Britain's Quilliam think-tank, told Reuters news agency: "He has defected from the regime. He wasn't happy at all. He doesn't support the Government attacks on civilians."

Read more: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201009115962657

---

Earlier article which was featured in the OP...

Libya's foreign minister Mousa Kousa has 'defected', said to be on way to London

Source: Malta Today

Libya's foreign minister and Gaddafi right hand man has defected, and is reportedly on his way to London after meeting with senior French diplomats in Djerba after crossing the border. The Maltese government confirmed last night that it had not received any contact by Libya’s foreign minister Mousa Kousa, as reports trickled on his defection..

Kousa, known to be a close aide to Col. Gaddafi was spotted in a Djerba hotel yesterday while accompanied by a number of people, including a woman and a youth.

A number of luggages were seen in one of a number of Libyan diplomatic plated cars that sped from Djerba towards the capital Tunis.

The news, tweeted by MaltaToday yesterday made the rounds of the newswires, as foreign diplomats in Tunis rushed to confirm Mousa Kousa’s presence in the country.

Full article with a lot more detail: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/world/libya-s-foreign-minister-mousa-kousa-has-defected-said-to-be-on-way-to-london

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Another tool of the imperialists.

I wonder how much he was paid by big oil.

Because there's no other explanation for it.

Or not...

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I had read about him. He is supposedly very adept at landing on his feet.

And smart.
Which means the good ship SS Gaddafi is indeed filling with water.

[monmouth]

14. Knows when to hold 'em, knows when to fold 'em...It's a knack I guess....n/t

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[abomination]

3. gaddafi going down

for more of gaddafi's massacre go to http://conersationalblog.blogspot.com/

[pampango]

5. Maybe. More than likely, but not certainly. BBC:"Libyan minister arrives in London on surprise visit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12915685

Libya's foreign minister Moussa Koussa has arrived in London on a surprise visit from Tunisia, amid reports he has defected.

A Libyan government spokesman insisted Mr Koussa - in his post for two years - had not defected, but was travelling abroad on a diplomatic mission.

The BBC's Nick Robinson said sources had told him they were confident he had come to London to escape the regime.

In some ways it might be just as interesting if the Libyan foreign minister was suddenly making an official visit to the UK. The purpose of such a hurried trip might be interesting indeed.

[Turborama]

6. Britain's Foreign Office has confirmed it to Sky News. It's the main story on that channel now.

[Waiting For Everyman]

7. Wow, the spin on this one should be interesting.

Thanks, Turborama.

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. Beat ya...

...to the punch.

Oil explains everything -- even Brad Lidge's torn rotator cuff.

[Waiting For Everyman]

13. Moussa Koussa drank the Nescafe, and he's trippin'.

He was trippin' so hard he didn't know he was in Tunisia, and whoops!, he ended up in London somehow.

:shrug:

He didn't turn on Gadaffi! He just got stoned and wandered off. Those evil Western instigators did it. No, no... it was al Queda...

This could be a great skit for "the Liar". What's his name, John something.

Ooooo, and the the Church Lady too.

[Turborama]

19. According to Nic Roberston in Tripoli this has caught them with their pants down, as it were

I'm curious if he took hard drives with him. I'm not sure but he was most probably alongside Gaddafi on the ICC's wanted list and has to have some really valuable intel. to swap for his freedom.

You're welcome.

I'm seeing a lot of unrecs happen. Must be a few Gaddafi fans around who hate to see his regime crumbling like this. :shrug:

[Amonester]

21. I see that also (all the unrecs).

They must feel desperate if that is all they can do.

Their ship is sinking (too slowly for me).

[On the Road]

8. +1

Just when the news was looking bad...

[Turborama]

9. New Sky News article on this: Libya's Foreign Minister Defects To UK

10:38pm UK, Wednesday March 30, 2011

Libya's foreign minister Musa Kusa has defected to the UK, saying he is "no longer willing" to represent Col Gaddafi's regime.

The Foreign Office confirmed Musa Kusa had travelled to Britain of his own free will and was resigning his post - a further blow to the dictator's grip on power.

It said he had arrived on a plane from Tunisia and was "no longer willing" to represent the dictator's regime.

"We can confirm that Musa Kusa arrived at Farnborough Airport on March 30 from Tunisia," a spokesman said. "He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further detail in due course."

Much more: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201009115963304

[LittleGirl]

11. best news I've read all day

I want to see this regime taken down. To kill your own citizens is just evil that I cannot comprehend.

I hate war.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

12. Represents a big crack in the regime. More will surely follow. Good news. nt

[killbotfactory]

15. kidnapped by pro-UK al-qaeda deathtroopers on hallucinogens.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Moussa Koussa not alone--other senior officials "waiting to fly to European capitals" to defect

From Al Jazeera:

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught tells us that Koussa was not alone, and that there are several senior Libyan government figures waiting to fly to European capitals.

She said they include the current head of intelligence, the oil mininster, the secretary of the general peoples' congress and a deputy foreign minister. She tells us:

It seems the government of Gaddafi is collapsing around him tonight, and they're running for the hills.

But its all about Cololnel Gaddafi here. The people are loyal to him, not to his ministers, so how this will be taken by the Libyan people is another matter - that's if they know what's going on. Today, state TV said that Moussa Koussa was going on holiday. We'll see if they say the same for these others.

1:11am:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31

[killbotfactory]

17. Imperialist lies!

They are all just going on holiday.

[Turborama]

18. Very intriguing, thanks man. Since then, a report from Tim Friend on this has been embedded

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzgQncRBIgY

I'm about to post it in the videos forum.

:hi:

[Turborama]

20. SNAP ANALYSIS-Minister's defection: how big a blow for Gaddafi?

ALGIERS, March 30 (Reuters) - Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa flew to Britain on Wednesday and has resigned from Muammar Gaddafi's government because he is no longer willing to represent it, a British government spokesman said.

Koussa's arrival at Farnborough airport, in the south of England, marks the biggest defection yet from the Libyan government since a popular revolt began over a month ago against Gaddafi's four-decade rule.

HOW DAMAGING IS THIS FOR GADDAFI?

It's certainly damaging, but whether it spells the end of Gaddafi's rule is not yet clear. Koussa was hugely influential in Libya's ruling elite, and has been for decades, but he was not part of the innermost circle. That is made up principally of Gaddafi's sons and people with family ties to the Libyan leader, and their loyalty is likely to be more robust, especially now they share responsibility for blood spilled in Libya's conflict. The key factor to watch for now is whether other members of the Libyan establishment, emboldened by Koussa's defection, will follow his example.

=snip=

DEAD-ENDERS

Geoff Porter, an independent analyst on North Africa who has testified on Libya in the U.S. Congress, said Koussa's defection was one of the first signs the Gaddafi elite was fracturing.

Full article: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72T2DT20110330?sp=true

[pampango]

22. "Koussa, who led the regime's intelligence agency for five years, could now be providing

sensitive information as well."

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/03/201133192759573836.html

Moussa Koussa, the former Libyan foreign minister who resigned his position and fled to the United Kingdom, has not been offered immunity from prosecution and is "voluntarily talking" to authorities, British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Thursday.

Koussa was staying in a safe and secure place and engaged in ongoing discussions with British diplomats, including some who worked at the now-shuttered embassy in Libya, Hague said. "His resignation shows that Gaddafi's regime ... is fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within," he said.

"It is not through actions of war that we can make Gaddafi leave, but rather through strong international pressure to encourage defections by people close to him," Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini told Canale 5 television.

Hague said the British government encouraged others around Gaddafi to abandon him and "embrace a better future for Libya."

[Turborama]

23. Gaddafi's propaganda spokesman Moussa Ibrahim in press conference just now, "He's mentally tired"

"And needed to go to the UK to rest. He's part of our family and we'll welcome him with open arms when he decides to come back".

Also, he seemed very shifty when he was asked about the location of these guys...

00:43 Almanara Media reports that 32 Libyan Diplomatic cars have crossed the Libyan-Tunisian border into Tunisia. There is news that the following Libyan diplomats are in Tunisia making plans to defect and leave to Europe:

1. Abu Zaid Dorda – Chief of Intelligence
2. Shukri Ghanem – Oil Minister
3. AbulGasem AzZwai – General Secretary of the People’s Committee
4. AbdulAati Abedi – Libyan Ambassador to Tunisia

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x776691

[Turborama]

24. Time: The Gaddafi Regime Suffers a Huge Defection - A Thundering Blow To Muammar Gaddafi's Standing

In a thundering blow to Muammar Gaddafi's standing and the morale of his regime, Libya's Foreign Minister, Moussa Kusa, defected to London on Wednesday night, in the regime's most high-profile break since the Western bombing campaign began nearly two weeks ago — if not, indeed, the most momentous split in the Libyan government in years.

Kusa, who had long been one of Gaddafi's most trusted aides, landed at London's Farnborough Airport at about 9 p.m., after slipping across Libya's border into Tunisia earlier this week. He was flown on a British military jet, and immediately requested political asylum. "Kusa is not happy about how the government has handled the conflict," said his friend Noman Benotman, a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was aligned with al-Qaeda until 2008, speaking to TIME late Wednesday night. Benotman said Kusa revealed earlier this month that he was distressed that Gaddafi had once again turned Libya into a pariah state, after years of Kusa's careful work in restoring its standing in the U.S. and Europe. "He was the key figure to rehabilitate Libya with the international community," Benotman said by phone. "Now it is all gone."

Kusa's defection comes just one day after Western and Arab leaders met in London for a key coalition meeting to decide the next steps in their campaign against Gaddafi. There, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other leaders warned Gaddafi that his time in power was quickly running out and invited those around him to ditch the regime before it was too late. Kusa appears to have been the first to flee — but Benotman says he is unlikely to be the last. "I'm aware of dozens of people in Tripoli who are not happy," said Benotman, who was in Tripoli when the revolt erupted in mid-February, and who has close contacts with high-level Libyan officials. "The message being delivered is that they have to make a decision now."

Kusa is more than just a familiar face to Western leaders. He fled Libya carrying a wealth of information that could prove extremely valuable to the coalition as it tries to assess how to end the military conflict and get Gaddafi to step down after nearly 42 years in power. As one of Gaddafi's closest aides, Kusa presumably would be informed about Gaddafi's war plans and state of mind after 11 days of aerial bombing by the coalition, as well as whether Gaddafi is open to negotiating a deal regarding exile for himself and his family.


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2062329,00.html#ixzz1ICCijAQf

[Turborama]

25. The Guardian: Cameron approved decision to allow Moussa Koussa to defect to UK

Prime minister says Gaddafi's henchmen should 'come to their senses' and follow defecting foreign minister by abandoning Lybian regime

Nicholas Watt and Hélène Mulholland | Thursday March 31 2011 17.43 BST

David Cameron approved the decision to allow the Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, to defect to Britain with at least one member of his family after consulting the US, Downing Street has said.

Cameron said Muammar Gaddafi's henchmen should "come to their senses" and follow Koussa by abandoning the "brutal regime".

And he reiterated that "no deal" had been made with the minister in exchange for his defection to Britain.

Koussa's defection has led to expectations that he will be questioned about his possible involvement in, or knowledge of, atrocities including the Lockerbie bombing and the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/31/moussa-koussa-not-offered-immunity-hague