No immunity for Gadhafi's ex-aide
Source: Agencies |
April 1, 2011, Friday
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Britain yesterday refused to offer former Libyan foreign minister immunity from prosecution after his apparent defection, raising the possibility that Moussa Koussa could be prosecuted for his past role in propping up Moammar Gadhafi's government.
Within hours, Scottish prosecutors said they were seeking Koussa for questioning over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, many of them Americans.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed what he said was Koussa's resignation, saying it showed the Libyan government was "fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within."
Hague said "Koussa is not being offered any immunity from British or international justice," dampening speculation the government might overlook Libyan opposition allegations that he played a pivotal role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, among other atrocities.
Authorities debriefed Koussa, a trusted Gadhafi adviser and longtime stalwart in the Libyan government, after he fled to Britain on Wednesday on a private plane from Tunisia. Hague said only that Koussa was in a "secure place in the United Kingdom."
The Libyan opposition alleges that Koussa, regarded as one of Gadhafi's closest allies, had a role in masterminding the Lockerbie bombing. Koussa was expelled from Britain in 1980 after giving an interview advocating the use of violence to silence UK critics of Libyan government.
His name also was associated with the bombing of a French aircraft over Niger in 1989, but in recent years he helped with diplomatic progress that ended Libya's international isolation.
Former foreign secretary Jack Straw described Koussa as a key player who had a "fundamentally important" role in negotiations to bring Libya back into the international fold in the 1990s.
Within hours, Scottish prosecutors said they were seeking Koussa for questioning over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, many of them Americans.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed what he said was Koussa's resignation, saying it showed the Libyan government was "fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within."
Hague said "Koussa is not being offered any immunity from British or international justice," dampening speculation the government might overlook Libyan opposition allegations that he played a pivotal role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, among other atrocities.
Authorities debriefed Koussa, a trusted Gadhafi adviser and longtime stalwart in the Libyan government, after he fled to Britain on Wednesday on a private plane from Tunisia. Hague said only that Koussa was in a "secure place in the United Kingdom."
The Libyan opposition alleges that Koussa, regarded as one of Gadhafi's closest allies, had a role in masterminding the Lockerbie bombing. Koussa was expelled from Britain in 1980 after giving an interview advocating the use of violence to silence UK critics of Libyan government.
His name also was associated with the bombing of a French aircraft over Niger in 1989, but in recent years he helped with diplomatic progress that ended Libya's international isolation.
Former foreign secretary Jack Straw described Koussa as a key player who had a "fundamentally important" role in negotiations to bring Libya back into the international fold in the 1990s.
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