Moussa Koussa to provide intelligence: US

1 Apr 2011, 6:57 am   -   Source: AFP
1 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
1

The US has hailed the defection of Libya's foreign minister Moussa Koussa as a source of critical intelligence about Muammar Gaddafi's mental state and military plans.

RELATED

The United States has said the defection of Libya's foreign minister Moussa Koussa would provide critical intelligence about Muammar Gaddafi's mental state and military plans.
  
As British officials debriefed Koussa after his flight to London late Wednesday, the White House also reiterated a senior official's earlier assessment that his decision was a major blow to Gaddafi's government.
  
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor hailed a "major defection and a significant blow to the Gaddafi regime."
  
"Moussa Koussa is one of Gaddafi's most trusted aides who can help provide critical intelligence about Gaddafi's current state of mind and military plans.
  
"It also demonstrates that the people around Gaddafi understand his regime is in disarray."
  
The Obama administration has argued that it believes that Gaddafi's regime will eventually collapse due to massive pressure exerted by coalition air attacks on his forces, rebel action and a political and economic squeeze.
  
"The people around Gaddafi have to choose whether to place their bet on a regime that has lost all legitimacy and face grave consequences, or get on the right side of history," Vietor said.
  
"Moussa Koussa's decision shows which way the wind is blowing in Tripoli."
  
Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters that the British government informed the US authorities about Koussa's defection just before it went public with the development.
  
But he said Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, "was not a part of the process to broker his departure and the State Department played no role in these efforts."
  
Feltman was informed about Koussa's defection by his British counterpart before he departed London on Wednesday, following his attendance at an international conference on Libya, Toner said.
  
Koussa had been in touch with Feltman recently but "at no point did it come up that he was considering leaving the regime," Toner said.
  
When asked if Feltman encouraged Koussa to defect, Toner replied that Feltman made clear "our desire to see Gaddafi go and the fact that these ...individuals, his regime, would be held accountable."
  
He added: "Yes, in the sense that we made the argument that he was part of a regime that was going nowhere."
  
When pressed on whether Feltman made the argument directly, Toner replied: "I believe Assistant Secretary Feltman said that."

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

When the west wants you gone you are gone

A - from Melbourne, 1 year

Gaddafi, though not popular in the west, has been good to his people and his country. He recently made ammendments with the west and has built a better image different to that in the past and is no longer an enemy of the west nor is he any threat to the world. There is always an opposition to every government. But if the opposition does not represent the majority of the poeple and the leader is loved by the majority of his people and is good to his people does the leader have to go.

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.