New evidence suggest UK government sent prisoners to Libya with full approvement

[hellheaven1987]

And then the UK government armed those "terrorists" on their own list last year, using their own tax money.

The UK government approved the 2004 rendition of a terror suspect to the Gaddafi regime, the BBC can reveal.

A letter from an MI6 officer refers to Abdel Hakim Belhaj's rendition to Libya. It congratulates the Libyans on the "safe arrival" of the "air cargo".

Mr Belhaj says he was tortured in jail. Successive UK governments have denied complicity in rendition or torture.

But BBC correspondent Peter Taylor says he understands Mr Belhaj's rendition was given ministerial approval.

However it is not clear at what level of government the decision was authorised.

The letter from the senior MI6 officer, Sir Mark Allen, to Col Gaddafi's intelligence chief, Musa Kusa, was found last year in the rubble of Musa Kusa's headquarters, which were bombed by Nato.

As well as congratulating the Libyans on the arrival of the "cargo", it points out that "the intelligence was British".

The letter was sent in 2004 when Mr Belhaj was the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

MI5 believed the group was close to al-Qaeda and involved in recruiting young Muslims in Britain to fight in Iraq.

Our correspondent says it appears MI6 had discovered that Mr Belhaj was in Malaysia and about to head for London in the hope of obtaining political asylum.

MI6 informed its foreign intelligence partners, and as a result Mr Belhaj was intercepted in Bangkok, presumably by the CIA, and rendered to Libya.

Our correspondent says the letter suggests MI6 was complicit in Mr Belhaj's illegal rendition and alleged torture in Libya - but that MI6 was not acting unilaterally.

He says his understanding is that MI6 obtained authorisation from the Labour government of the time for its action.

Jack Straw was the Labour Foreign Secretary in 2004 when the rendition took place. In an interview on BBC Radio 4 last year he said: "We were opposed to unlawful rendition. We were opposed to any use of torture or similar methods. Not only did we not agree with it, we were not complicit in it and nor did we turn a blind eye to it."

He added: "No foreign secretary can know all the details of what its intelligence agencies are doing at any one time."

His office told the BBC Mr Straw had nothing further to add in the light of the current allegations.

Source

Wait a minute, so if those dudes are "terrorists" on the list of UK government, what the heck you armed them and asked them to run free in Libya last year? Did UK government suffer a memory lost or sitting in Libyan prison for five years makes someone not terrorist anymore? Seriously, what is in British mind?

[Rolling Thunder]

There's an old British saying: The enemy of my enemy is a useful tool to be used to him up to my advantage.

[Dr. Croccer]

At least he got prosecuted by fellow Muslims, right?

[Exarch]

the enemy of my enemy is a tool to be used.

plus who cares now; europe is lapping up all of libya's oil whilst libyans are too busy killing and raping each other.

[Rolling Thunder]

plus who cares now; europe is lapping up all of libya's oil whilst libyans are too busy killing and raping each other.

I call that a victory.

[Exarch]

I call that a victory.

perhaps, but given the foothold al kyder now has in the country (and G-man's stores of weapons/chemical weapons) blowback's going to be a .

[Rolling Thunder]

perhaps, but given the foothold al kyder now has in the country (and G-man's stores of weapons/chemical weapons) blowback's going to be a .

Pff, we took out Gadaffi, a bit more money and training and we can back the anti-AQ elements of the rebels nicely.

[fkizz]

the enemy of my enemy is a tool to be used.

plus who cares now; europe is lapping up all of libya's oil whilst libyans are too busy killing and raping each other.

Source? I thought lybia got moderatly stable by now, with NTC taking over and elections coming up, that sounds like some cold war fantasy no offense, though not fully informed of everything in lybia hence asking for source

EDIT- Also OP news were already avaliable on Al-Jazeera when the lybia civil war was still raging.

[Exarch]

Source? I thought lybia got moderatly stable by now, with NTC taking over and elections coming up, that sounds like some cold war fantasy no offense, though not fully informed of everything in lybia hence asking for source

EDIT- Also OP news were already avaliable on Al-Jazeera when the lybia civil war was still raging.

al jazeera's journalistic objectivity when the owner of al jazeera-the emir of Qatar- started actively supporting the rebels and the reporting from al jazeera english changed accordingly. AJE ceased being a credible news source (something they actually were before 2011) and instead became the propaganda arm of the gulf cooperation council.

also, libya is stable?
hardly, especially when tribal warfare has now become a common occurence, like that spat that took out 30 people last week, and where just recently, a UN convoy was attacked. Of course it suits AJE to portray libya as a success since that's exactly what they want for syria as well, never mind that the UN via Kofi Annan and Assad have agreed on a ceasefire.

by way of a final word: isn't it strange that all these countries that have seen NATO action are never as stable as they were before the invasion/"humanitarian bombing" despite all these noble intentions of creating a stable and democratic state?

[Vanoi]

as a success since that's exactly what they want for syria as well, never mind that the UN via Kofi Annan and Assad have agreed on a ceasefire.

Funny how people keep saying Assad has accepted a cease-fire, when only a few days later his forces were attacking rebel positions, and Syrian troops were spotting firing at refugees inside of Turkey.

[Exarch]

Funny how people keep saying Assad has accepted a cease-fire, when only a few days later his forces were attacking rebel positions, and Syrian troops were spotting firing at refugees inside of Turkey.

the rebels haven't accepted the ceasefire and are determined to continue fighting, abetted by the proposed arms "donations" courtesy of saudi arabia and qatar.
just because the media labels them "refugees" doesn't make them so; this was observed during the libyan fracas where Gadaffi forces who retaliated were accused of firing on "civilians and noncombatants", noncombatants who happened to be armed and were supported by NATO gunships.

[Rolling Thunder]

also, libya is stable?
hardly, especially when tribal warfare has now become a common occurence,

Source?

What I find amazing is British actually armed the very terrorists on their own list; what if one day those military supplies and weapons were used to against civilians in western world? Should British government take responsibility for that?

I don't know, I just... did not expect British government is such an irresponsible and retarded government... Truly a disappointment...

Because I'm sure MI6 are just glacidly staring into space, completely unable to control events.

[hellheaven1987]

Source? I thought lybia got moderatly stable by now, with NTC taking over and elections coming up, that sounds like some cold war fantasy no offense, though not fully informed of everything in lybia hence asking for source

Libya is moderately stable? You sure you are in 2012?

EDIT- Also OP news were already avaliable on Al-Jazeera when the lybia civil war was still raging.

Nope, David Cameron denied that UK government knew MI6 did those horrible things and stated it was MI6's own idea; but now the new evidences suggest UK government not just knew, but actually approved it. Furthermore, it became know that those UK supported during the Libyan civil war are on the terrorist list of UK government, which brings the question why UK government supported the very terrorists on their own list with the weapons and military supplies.

[YukonTrooper]

Source? I thought lybia got moderatly stable by now, with NTC taking over and elections coming up, that sounds like some cold war fantasy no offense, though not fully informed of everything in lybia hence asking for source

EDIT- Also OP news were already avaliable on Al-Jazeera when the lybia civil war was still raging.

*Libya. I hate to sound like a spelling-Nazi, but I think being "fully informed" first entails spelling the name of the country right.

Having said that, no, it's anything but stable. Scores are dying weekly in clashes (over 100 died recently in a single clash in the south); over 10,000 "enemies of the revolution" are locked up in prisons across the country, many being tortured to death; the NTC can't operate in the capital; Cyrenaica is seeking semi-autonomy (for now); over 250 militias run their own territories like fiefdoms; Tawerghans and other dark-skinned Libyans are being repressed, hunted down and forced to flee in an ethnic cleansing.

Stable like Jenga! But at least some lucrative contracts are being signed with Westerners and Gulf Arabs in the culture of mayhem and corruption.

[boofhead]

Fools, they should have just killed them.

[boofhead]

The ''Libyan Fiasco'' is NATO's latest prank.

Take a look at these NTC thugs.

They're ing animals who got Western support.

It's a disgrace.

[Thorn777]

there is no honor among thieves

[boofhead]

Syria will go the same way. They're all animals. And yet the West (pffft what a joke) will be forced to take sides.

[justicar5]

Syria will go the same way. They're all animals. And yet the West (pffft what a joke) will be forced to take sides.

so arabs are sub-human scum ? Let's just get the racism in the open here.

[boofhead]

so arabs are sub-human scum ? Let's just get the racism in the open here.

Yeah I actually said that.