The West’s Next Libyan Headache?
The defection to Britain of Muammar Qaddafi foreign minister and intelligence and security chief, the comically-named Moussa Koussa, is devastating to the Libyan dictator.
It’s also going to be a problem for the British and Americans – especially when the Libyan “problem” is eventually resolved.
Moussa Koussa is undoubtedly intelligent, probably knows all there is to know about Muammar Qaddafi, yet he’s about as trustworthy as a rattlesnake. On second thought, that’s probably unfair to rattlesnakes.
When Libya ceases to be a problem, Moussa Koussa will become one.
Probably he should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. As Qaddafi’s intelligence honcho, he undoubtedly was deeply involved in the planning of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people as well as the 1989 sabotage of a French airliner in Africa that killed 107.
When Libya was involved in terror acts in other countries – including the assassination of Libyan dissidents – Moussa Koussa would almost certainly have been involved.
Complications in how to treat him, or what to do with him, may hinge on how vital he was as an intelligence source after 9/11 for the British and Americans. That is, assuming reports are accurate that after 9/11 he volunteered information on al-Qaeda to the West.
Koussa also sought to persuade Qaddafi to abandon weapons of mass destruction and back off from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Allied intelligence services may know lots about Moussa Koussa, but the rest of us don’t. What we do know is that he was a sociology graduate of Michigan State University in 1978, whose thesis was about Qaddafi’s leadership.
He was subsequently appointed by Qaddafi to be Libya’s ambassador to Britain, but soon was expelled from the U.K. when he told the London Times that he planned to have a couple of Libyan dissidents in Britain “eliminated.”
Candid, certainly, but not conventionally diplomatic
That Moussa Koussa chose to betray his leader by defecting, while leaving his wife and children in Tripoli to the tender mercies of Qaddafi, speaks volumes about his character, personality, courage, sense of self-worth, loyalty, honor and opportunism.
He may (or may not) be a charmer, but he’s not that admirable.
But he is useful. Of course he is an invaluable source about the goings-on of the Libyan regime, and not only regarding Qaddafi’s thinking, but also on the power, abilities, and personalities of Qaddafi’s sons, with whom he apparently did not get on.
Regardless of Moussa Koussa’s use as an intelligence source, or as a blow to the morale of Qaddafi’s forces, it’ll be something of an outrage if someday he is not put on trial for his involvement in Qaddafi’s crimes against humanity. We shall see.
If nothing else, the defection of one of his closest advisors and co-conspirators is a blow to Qaddafi, who so far has weathered the “no fly zone” air attacks by Britain, France, U.S., Canada and assorted states with disquieting aplomb.
Now there are reports of Qaddafi’s sons sending emissaries to London to discuss how their dad might voluntarily go into exile, on condition that he can do so safely.
Meanwhile, Qaddafi’s forces have apparently discarded tanks, which draw allied aircraft fire, and switched to cannon-mounted jeeps, which are harder for aircraft to detect, and quite effective at routing rebel fighters.