US attacks Britain for 'aiding' Gaddafi

Published on Sunday 20 February 2011 19:04

THE United States has accused the British government of becoming too close to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, as anti-government protests spread to the heart of the dictator's regime in Tripoli.

The US ambassador to London, Louis Susman, made an implicit attack on the UK's attempts to welcome Col Gaddafi back into the international diplomatic fold in recent years, branding them a "mistake".

Britain has come under fire in America for its normalisation of relations with the regime, particularly over the return to Libya of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi from Scotland.

Last night, violent clashes broke out in the Libyan capital between pro and anti-Gaddafi protesters in four areas of the city, with reports of gunfire and tear gas being used by security forces.

Reports say about 233 people have died across the country, with at least 60 killed in the city of Benghazi yesterday

Speaking on state television last night Col Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, said his father was in the country and backed by the army, and vowed: "We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet."

Foreign Secretary William Hague denounced the authorities' use of force and urged the Libyan dictator to respect the human rights of his people.

However, despite Mr Hague's criticism of Col Gaddafi's crackdown, Mr Susman, said: "I can't say, and I wouldn't say, what the British government should do or shouldn't do."

But he added: "I would suggest to you that to deal with him, to give him greater stature, greater ability on the world front to look like he is a good citizen is a mistake.

"I would hope that the whole concept of how people deal with Gaddafi will be under review."

As the clashes continued last night, a Tripoli resident said he could hear gunshots in the streets and crowds of people.

"We're inside the house and the lights are out," he said. "There are gunshots in the street. That's what I hear, gunshots and people. I can't go outside."

An expatriate worker living in the Libyan capital added: "Some anti-government demonstrators are gathering in the residential complexes. The police are dispersing them. I can also see burning cars."

Members of a Libyan army unit reportedly told Benghazi residents yesterday that they had defected and "liberated" the eastern city from forces supporting Col Gaddafi.

RELATED:

• Analysis: The hand of friendship has been bitten hard

• Three sons could be set for power struggle

• Hague's fury at bloody repression

Last night, Shaikh Faraj al Zuway, leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya, threatened to cut oil exports to western countries within 24 hours unless authorities stop what he called the "oppression of protesters".

Col Gaddafi's son also said last night that protesters had seized control of some military bases and tanks. He warned of civil war and acknowledged that the army made mistakes because troops were not prepared to battle demonstrators.

However, he said the reported death toll was exaggerated.

Former prime minister Tony Blair was behind moves to restore relations with Libya when he visited the country in 2004, after agreement that the African state would disband its Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programmes.

The previous year the then foreign secretary, Jack Straw, had hailed Gaddafi as "courageous" for agreeing to give up his WMD programmes.

This followed a compensation deal for the Lockerbie bomb victims.

The rapprochement with Col Gaddafi's regime was sealed in 2007, when Mr Blair signed the now-infamous "deal in the desert", which paved the way for an agreement on prisoner transfer between the Libyans and the UK that could have seen Megrahi sent home.

It also led to a commercial deal being agreed on drilling rights for BP in the oil-rich state.

Megrahi was eventually freed on compassionate release – a separate legal mechanism – but there has been widespread suspicion in the US that his release was linked to Britain's increasingly closer relations with Libya.

Col Gaddafi has enjoyed four decades of rule in Libya. Yesterday, he responded to diplomatic fallout in his country with a threat to halt co-operation on EU migration. Thousands of Africans are stopped in Libya from entering southern Europe and are held in refugee camps.

Benghazi has been the focus of recent protests, with reports that anti-government forces have seized control of large areas. Commandos and foreign mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa had targeted demonstrators with assault rifles and other heavy weaponry.

Reports indicated that 200 or more protesters had been killed by sniper fire, machine guns and even heavy artillery, such as anti-aircraft missiles.

But an opposition figure based in Dubai, Mohammed Abdullah of the Libyan Salvation Front, quoted hospital officials in Benghazi saying the death toll may have reached 300.

One doctor, known as Brayka, claimed yesterday that fresh gunfire had broken out in Benghazi and "a real massacre" had happened.

Mr Hague condemned the violence in a phone call with Col Gaddafi's son, Saif, yesterday.

The Foreign Secretary said yesterday: "What Col Gaddafi should be doing is respecting basic human rights and there is no sense of that in the dreadful response, the horrifying response of the Libyan authorities to these protests."

It came as hundreds of British Libyans staged a protest outside its embassy in central London and called for stronger action from the UK government.

As well as Benghazi and now Tripoli, there have been reports of anti-government protests in other eastern Libyan cities, including al-Bayda and Dernah, as well as Misrata further west.