Updated at 4 p.m. edt.
An embarrassed Beijing government claims it had no idea Chinese arms dealers met with members of the Gadhafi regime in July, but insists no weapons were sent to Libya.
"We have clarified with the relevant agencies that in July the Gadhafi government sent personnel to China without the knowledge of the Chinese government and they engaged in contact with a handful of people from the companies concerned," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said a press conference in Beijing.
"The Chinese companies did not sign arms-trade contacts, nor did they export military items to Libya," she said. "I believe that the agencies in charge of the arms trade will certainly treat this seriously."
end update
---[
Moammar Gadhafi left an ugly paper trail that confirms some startling geopolitical realities.
The latest screaming headline from the Gadhafi regime's secret files: "China offered Gadhafi huge stockpiles of arms: Libyan memos."
The Globe and Mail of Toronto reported that Chinese arms manufacturers were in discussions in late July to sell around $200-million worth of weapons and ammunition to Gadhafi.
The arms deal would have been in violation of United Nations sanctions.
The Canadian newspaper published some of the actual documents regarding China written in Arabic (with English explainer notes added).
There seems to be no limit to the juicy bits of information rolling out the Gadhafi regime's expansive records as human rights groups, rebel leaders, journalists and others rifle through the captured documents.
The first of the blockbuster disclosures from the Gadhafi files late last week revealed that the regime quickly developed relationships with the U.S. and British intelligence agencies after Gadhafi halted his weapons of mass destruction programs and invited inspectors into his country in 2004.
Gadhafi very much viewed Al Qaeda and Islamist militants as his enemy as well, but not lost on the Libyan dictator was the American-led Iraq invasion and toppling of secular oil-state dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi despot had no connection to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks or many of the other charges the Bush administration leveled.
But, if it could happen to Saddam, Gadhafi knew it could happen to him too. Rather than take the chance, Gadhafi played ball with the the Central Intelligence Agency and MI6 through his intelligence chief Musa Kusa, the documents showed.
The man kept extensive records, incuding the creepy find of the week: Gadhafi's clip book filled with photos of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Ick.
So Gadhafi really believed he could prevail over the rebels, because he certainly had enough time the last sixth months to get rid of some of the more embarrassing and perhaps even incriminating evidence.
Despite all the oil money, the ornate tastes and the fully stocked underground bunker, what Moammar Gadhafi really needed was a paper shredder.
Showing posts with label Musa Kusa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Musa Kusa. Show all posts
Monday, September 5, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Rehabbed Gadhafi Cozied Up to Bush Administration
Moammar Gadhafi began a working relationship with the Bush administration after the Libyan dictator abandoned his weapons of mass destruction programs and invited in international weapons inspectors, according to a published report that cited Libyan government documents.
Gadhafi's policy-changing epiphany was a result of the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003 by U.S. forces. The dictator used the moment to try to rehabilitate his image. The gesture by Gadhafi welcomed by the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as at spy agencies in other Western capitals, like London and Ottawa.
Top Bush administration officials met with the newly "reformed" Gadhafi, who apparently was particularly fond of Condi Rice, ex-national security advisor and secretary of State to former President George W. Bush.
Ex-Libyan intelligence chief and Foreign Minister Musa Kusa became the point man in Libya for the CIA, allowing terrorism suspects to be interrogated in Libya and the American spy agency to set up shop in Tripoli in 2004, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
Kusa, one of the earliest senior Gadhafi regime insiders to defect to the rebel side, was questioned by British authorities shortly after he defected about the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist attack over Lockerbie, Scotland.
The hunt for Gadhafi, meanwhile, goes on.
"Gadhafi is still at large but he is hiding, he is isolated, he is almost surrounded in possibly one of two small places where we think he is," said Guma El-Gamaty, the Transitional National Council's ambassador to Britain. "We think it is just a matter of time before he is either apprehended or, if he resisted arrest, he might be killed."
Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte is surrounded today by rebel forces, but the city still has a week to negotiate a peace deal and avoid attack.
"Military action will be the last option, because after the fall of the capital, we are not in a hurry," said Khaled Zintani, a spokesman for the rebels in the mountain town of Zintan.
NATO has targeted military sites around Sirte and Bani Walid, where the rebels suspect Gadhafi is hiding.
Gadhafi continues to urge his followers to rise up against the rebels.
"We will fight them everywhere," Gadhafi said. "We will burn the ground under their feet ... Get ready to fight the occupation."
Turning to the future of Libya, representatives of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the United States, Turkey, Germany, Qatar, Britain, France and other countries sat down in Paris with the TNC yesterday to decide how Gadhafi's frozen assets can best be spent.
Libya is coping with security issues, including keeping cash of weapons out of the hands of Islamist militants, and shortages of water, gas, and electricity.
Gadhafi's policy-changing epiphany was a result of the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003 by U.S. forces. The dictator used the moment to try to rehabilitate his image. The gesture by Gadhafi welcomed by the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as at spy agencies in other Western capitals, like London and Ottawa.
Top Bush administration officials met with the newly "reformed" Gadhafi, who apparently was particularly fond of Condi Rice, ex-national security advisor and secretary of State to former President George W. Bush.
Ex-Libyan intelligence chief and Foreign Minister Musa Kusa became the point man in Libya for the CIA, allowing terrorism suspects to be interrogated in Libya and the American spy agency to set up shop in Tripoli in 2004, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
Kusa, one of the earliest senior Gadhafi regime insiders to defect to the rebel side, was questioned by British authorities shortly after he defected about the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist attack over Lockerbie, Scotland.
The hunt for Gadhafi, meanwhile, goes on.
"Gadhafi is still at large but he is hiding, he is isolated, he is almost surrounded in possibly one of two small places where we think he is," said Guma El-Gamaty, the Transitional National Council's ambassador to Britain. "We think it is just a matter of time before he is either apprehended or, if he resisted arrest, he might be killed."
Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte is surrounded today by rebel forces, but the city still has a week to negotiate a peace deal and avoid attack.
"Military action will be the last option, because after the fall of the capital, we are not in a hurry," said Khaled Zintani, a spokesman for the rebels in the mountain town of Zintan.
NATO has targeted military sites around Sirte and Bani Walid, where the rebels suspect Gadhafi is hiding.
Gadhafi continues to urge his followers to rise up against the rebels.
"We will fight them everywhere," Gadhafi said. "We will burn the ground under their feet ... Get ready to fight the occupation."
Turning to the future of Libya, representatives of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the United States, Turkey, Germany, Qatar, Britain, France and other countries sat down in Paris with the TNC yesterday to decide how Gadhafi's frozen assets can best be spent.
Libya is coping with security issues, including keeping cash of weapons out of the hands of Islamist militants, and shortages of water, gas, and electricity.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
More Signs Gadhafi's Grip Is Slipping
Updated 6:45 p.m. edt
Rebels have pulled back to just west of Ajdabiya after a crushing, constant artillery barrage from loyalist forces who were supposedly running out of ammunition, CNN's Ben Wedeman reported late today.
Moammar Gadhafi's forces struck the rebel caravan on the main coastal road, with some precision, Wedeman said. There was no sign of NATO warplanes as the rebels once again pulled back, he said.
Gadhafi's forces were thought to be running short of ammunition because of disruptions to his supply lines, but it clear his army in the East had ample stockpiles of shells and rockets.
The offensive by Gadhafi loyalists did not immediately threaten the provisional rebel capital of Benghazi, but with only Ajdabiya in its path the regime was once again taking back precious oil ports of the east and the valuable territory around them.
Opposition leaders say NATO's lone Muslim member nation, Turkey, with its lukewarm support for the no-fly zone, is behind the diminished air strikes, CNN correspondent Reza Sayah reported. The rebels plan to let Turkey know of their growing frustration over the lack of air cover, he said.
Meanwhile, authorities want to question ex-Libyan foreign minister and spymaster Musa Kusa over his alleged role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Though he has not been granted immunity, the U.S. yesterday took him off the list of Gadhafi's top aides whose assets were frozen to pressure the regime into folding. The Telegraph of London reports Kusa is believed to be cooperating with British intelligence.
"Mr. Kusa is thought to be helping MI6 understand the inner workings of the regime of Col Moammar Gadhafi including the Libyan leader’s sources of finance and the make-up of his armed forces," the newspaper reported. "He is also thought to be trying to persuade other members of the regime to join him in exile."
end update
---[
Update 11 a.m. edt
Libyan Rebels retreated today from Brega under heavy shelling from Moammar Gadhafi's artillery just one day after the insurgents boasted of having loyalist regime forces surrounded in the eastern oil town.
But according to Agence France Press, "as the first sleepy-looking insurgents arrived cautiously to take up the position they had left late yesterday, artillery and gunfire met them, sending them racing in retreat."
The ragtag band of rebels light arms are no match for Gadhafi's big guns and tanks, and their motor pool looks like something out of the "Mad Max" movies. They continue to complain that they need more air strikes and better equipment to beat back the loyalists.
“When you see this, the situation is very bad. We cannot match their weapons,” Kamal Mughrabi, 64, a retired soldier who joined the rebel army, told the Associated Press. “If the planes don’t come back and hit them we’ll have to keep pulling back.”
end update
---[
There remains reasons to be optimistic that a diplomatic solution may oust Moammar Gadhafi from power, but there are few indications the rebel army stalled in Brega will bust out make a sweep toward Tripoli anytime soon.
On the positive side for the hapless rebel army, they have kept Gadhafi from recapturing the oil patch in Eastern Libya, likely expediting the demise of the regime by cutting into another of its financial pipelines. Gadhafi's supply lines and armor have been pummeled by NATO warplanes.
And amid defections and emissaries trying to make a deal, Libya's oil minister became the latest senior Gadhafi official to suggest the handwriting is on the wall regarding the country's leadership.
"There will be changes of course, whether we like it or not," said Shukri Ghanem said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
In another diplomatic boost, Italy became the third nation along with France and Qatar to recognize the rebels' Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya.
But adding to the diplomatic disarray, a Libyan government spokesman said reforms are fine, but Gaddafi must stay in power to avoid another Iraq or Somalia.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague acknowledged the United Kingdom is providing rebels with mobile phones, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Ottawa Citizen has a bit more insight into who's who among the rebels.
Following up on the woman who bravely told the world how she was attacked by Gadhafi's militia, Eman al-Obeidy said on CNN's "AC360" show in a telephone interview she is no longer in the custody of Gadhafi forces, but she still fears for her life.
"My life is in danger, and I call on all human rights organization ... to expose the truth and to let me leave now. I am being held hostage here," wailed the woman who stormed into a Tripoli hotel where journalists were staying, telling them she was beaten and raped by forces loyal to Gadhafi last month before she was taken away by secret police.
"They have threatened me with death and told me I will never leave prison again, if I go to the journalists or tell them anything about what's happening in Tripoli," al-Obeidy told Anderson Cooper.
Closer to home, the FBI has begun questioning Libyans, gathering information agents hope will help deter any potential terror payback from Gadhafi, should he survive, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Rebels have pulled back to just west of Ajdabiya after a crushing, constant artillery barrage from loyalist forces who were supposedly running out of ammunition, CNN's Ben Wedeman reported late today.
Moammar Gadhafi's forces struck the rebel caravan on the main coastal road, with some precision, Wedeman said. There was no sign of NATO warplanes as the rebels once again pulled back, he said.
Gadhafi's forces were thought to be running short of ammunition because of disruptions to his supply lines, but it clear his army in the East had ample stockpiles of shells and rockets.
The offensive by Gadhafi loyalists did not immediately threaten the provisional rebel capital of Benghazi, but with only Ajdabiya in its path the regime was once again taking back precious oil ports of the east and the valuable territory around them.
Opposition leaders say NATO's lone Muslim member nation, Turkey, with its lukewarm support for the no-fly zone, is behind the diminished air strikes, CNN correspondent Reza Sayah reported. The rebels plan to let Turkey know of their growing frustration over the lack of air cover, he said.
Meanwhile, authorities want to question ex-Libyan foreign minister and spymaster Musa Kusa over his alleged role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Though he has not been granted immunity, the U.S. yesterday took him off the list of Gadhafi's top aides whose assets were frozen to pressure the regime into folding. The Telegraph of London reports Kusa is believed to be cooperating with British intelligence.
"Mr. Kusa is thought to be helping MI6 understand the inner workings of the regime of Col Moammar Gadhafi including the Libyan leader’s sources of finance and the make-up of his armed forces," the newspaper reported. "He is also thought to be trying to persuade other members of the regime to join him in exile."
end update
---[
Update 11 a.m. edt
Libyan Rebels retreated today from Brega under heavy shelling from Moammar Gadhafi's artillery just one day after the insurgents boasted of having loyalist regime forces surrounded in the eastern oil town.
But according to Agence France Press, "as the first sleepy-looking insurgents arrived cautiously to take up the position they had left late yesterday, artillery and gunfire met them, sending them racing in retreat."
The ragtag band of rebels light arms are no match for Gadhafi's big guns and tanks, and their motor pool looks like something out of the "Mad Max" movies. They continue to complain that they need more air strikes and better equipment to beat back the loyalists.
“When you see this, the situation is very bad. We cannot match their weapons,” Kamal Mughrabi, 64, a retired soldier who joined the rebel army, told the Associated Press. “If the planes don’t come back and hit them we’ll have to keep pulling back.”
end update
---[
There remains reasons to be optimistic that a diplomatic solution may oust Moammar Gadhafi from power, but there are few indications the rebel army stalled in Brega will bust out make a sweep toward Tripoli anytime soon.
On the positive side for the hapless rebel army, they have kept Gadhafi from recapturing the oil patch in Eastern Libya, likely expediting the demise of the regime by cutting into another of its financial pipelines. Gadhafi's supply lines and armor have been pummeled by NATO warplanes.
And amid defections and emissaries trying to make a deal, Libya's oil minister became the latest senior Gadhafi official to suggest the handwriting is on the wall regarding the country's leadership.
"There will be changes of course, whether we like it or not," said Shukri Ghanem said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
In another diplomatic boost, Italy became the third nation along with France and Qatar to recognize the rebels' Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya.
But adding to the diplomatic disarray, a Libyan government spokesman said reforms are fine, but Gaddafi must stay in power to avoid another Iraq or Somalia.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague acknowledged the United Kingdom is providing rebels with mobile phones, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Ottawa Citizen has a bit more insight into who's who among the rebels.
Following up on the woman who bravely told the world how she was attacked by Gadhafi's militia, Eman al-Obeidy said on CNN's "AC360" show in a telephone interview she is no longer in the custody of Gadhafi forces, but she still fears for her life.
"My life is in danger, and I call on all human rights organization ... to expose the truth and to let me leave now. I am being held hostage here," wailed the woman who stormed into a Tripoli hotel where journalists were staying, telling them she was beaten and raped by forces loyal to Gadhafi last month before she was taken away by secret police.
"They have threatened me with death and told me I will never leave prison again, if I go to the journalists or tell them anything about what's happening in Tripoli," al-Obeidy told Anderson Cooper.
Closer to home, the FBI has begun questioning Libyans, gathering information agents hope will help deter any potential terror payback from Gadhafi, should he survive, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Monday, April 4, 2011
U.S. Frees Libyan Defector's Frozen Assets
The Obama administration sweetened the pot for a major defector from Moammar Gadhafi's regime, releasing recently frozen assets for the former Libyan foreign minister and sending a message to others considering bolting from the fracturing government.
The Treasury Department announced today on its blog it has taken Musa Kusa's name off the list of Gadhafi family and associates whose financial assets were frozen last month.
"One of the intended purposes of sanctions against senior officials in the Libyan government was to motivate individuals within the Gadhafi regime to make the right decision and disassociate themselves from Gadhafi and his government. And today’s announcement shows the ability of sanctions to advance our national security and foreign policy goals and objectives," wrote David Cohen, acting under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"Kusa's defection and the subsequent lifting of sanctions against him should encourage others within the Libyan government to make similar decisions to abandon the Gadhafi regime," Cohen added.
The Obama administration froze the assets of Libyan officials ahead of air strikes against Gadhafi's military and strategic communications targets.
The Treasury Department announced today on its blog it has taken Musa Kusa's name off the list of Gadhafi family and associates whose financial assets were frozen last month.
"One of the intended purposes of sanctions against senior officials in the Libyan government was to motivate individuals within the Gadhafi regime to make the right decision and disassociate themselves from Gadhafi and his government. And today’s announcement shows the ability of sanctions to advance our national security and foreign policy goals and objectives," wrote David Cohen, acting under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"Kusa's defection and the subsequent lifting of sanctions against him should encourage others within the Libyan government to make similar decisions to abandon the Gadhafi regime," Cohen added.
The Obama administration froze the assets of Libyan officials ahead of air strikes against Gadhafi's military and strategic communications targets.
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