Secret MI6 plot to help Col Gaddafi escape Libya revealed
MI6 drew up top-secret plans to allow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to flee to another African country which was not subject to international law, a new book to be serialised in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph discloses.
The explosive plan was drawn up at the highest levels of the British Government as fears mounted over how to remove the dictator during the Libyan conflict.
Andrew Mitchell, the then International Development Secretary, was dispatched to build covert contacts with the controversial regime in Equatorial Guinea. The plan was never executed as Gaddafi was killed in October 2011, although there has always been speculation that this happened as he was leaving the country.
The details of the Gaddafi exit strategy are disclosed in In It Together by Matthew d’Ancona. The book, which will be serialised in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph this weekend is based on interviews with key Government figures and discloses hitherto unknown details about the key moments for the Coalition.
In a chapter dedicated to the Libyan crisis, Mr d'Ancona describes the secret plan to smuggle Gaddafi out of Libya - in order to create one option for ending the bloodshed caused by the uprising.
MI6 drew up top-secret plans to allow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to flee to another African country which was not subject to international law, a new book to be serialised in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph discloses.
The explosive plan was drawn up at the highest levels of the British Government as fears mounted over how to remove the dictator during the Libyan conflict.
Andrew Mitchell, the then International Development Secretary, was dispatched to build covert contacts with the controversial regime in Equatorial Guinea. The plan was never executed as Gaddafi was killed in October 2011, although there has always been speculation that this happened as he was leaving the country.
The details of the Gaddafi exit strategy are disclosed in In It Together by Matthew d’Ancona. The book, which will be serialised in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph this weekend is based on interviews with key Government figures and discloses hitherto unknown details about the key moments for the Coalition.
In a chapter dedicated to the Libyan crisis, Mr d'Ancona describes the secret plan to smuggle Gaddafi out of Libya - in order to create one option for ending the bloodshed caused by the uprising.
As Colonel Gaddafi’s rule collapsed in 2011, MI6 prepared to move the dictator to the small west African country, which does not recognise the International Criminal Court.
As Nato forces bombed Libya in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, British officials debated options for the Libyan leader. An internal safe haven in Libya was considered, but rejected because it was unlikely to be accepted by the Libya’s National Transitional Council.
“There were signs that the Colonel might accept some form of internal exile – as long as he were allowed an adequate protection force to ensure his security,” writes Mr d’Ancona. “Not surprisingly, this was dismissed as impractical.”
The Cabinet Office and MI6 therefore “prepared an exit strategy for Gaddafi in case it was necessary to strike a deal and to end the conflict.”
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