Thursday, March 31, 2011

Hague: 'No Immunity' For Gaddafi Insider

The Libyan foreign minister who has resigned and defected to the UK will not be offered any immunity from international or British justice, William Hague has said.



3:14pm UK, Thursday March 31, 2011

The Libyan foreign minister who has resigned and defected to the UK will not be offered any immunity from international or British justice, William Hague has said.

Addressing concerns over Musa Kusa's defection, foreign secretary Mr Hague added he had been communicating with the controversial politician over recent weeks.

"He has been my channel of communication to the regime in recent weeks and I have spoken to him several times on the telephone.

"His resignation shows that Gaddafi's regime...is fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within.

"Gaddafi must be asking himself: who will be the next to abandon him?"

libya defection: Who is Musa kusa?

Mr Kusa has been taken to a "safe location" according to David Cameron's official spokesman, but is not under arrest.

The spokesman added that issues such as the Lockerbie bombings and the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy would be matters for the relevant police authorities.

The Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway police force said they would like to interview Mr Kusa, but that nothing had been confirmed yet.

The former spy master is a plum prize for Britain in PR terms, sending the message that support for Colonel Gaddafi is crumbling at home.

Sky's senior correspondent Michelle Clifford

Mr Kusa's flight from Libya came as a sharp blow to leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The politician said he was "no longer willing" to represent the Libyan regime.

The Foreign Office confirmed Mr Kusa had travelled to Britain of his own free will, arriving on a plane from Tunisia with his son.

"We can confirm that Musa Kusa arrived at Farnborough airport on March 30 from Tunisia," a spokesman said.

belgium air force strikes against libyan aircraft

"Musa Kusa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi's government and his role was to represent the regime internationally - something that he is no longer willing to do."

Questions were earlier raised about Mr Kusa's whereabouts after Tunisian news agency TAP reported he had entered that country, but gave no reasons for his move.

A Libyan government spokesman later claimed he had not defected and was merely on a "diplomatic mission", but declined to say where he was going. Libya's deputy foreign minister Khalid Kaim dismissed the reports as "nonsense".

But within hours the Foreign Office confirmed he was seeking refuge and encouraged further regime defections.