UK tried to help Gaddafi flee to Equatorial Guinea

New revelations show British spy agency MI6 drew top-secret plans to help Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi escape the country.

The revelations were made in a book by former editor of The Daily Telegraph Matthew D Ancano, in his book In It Together.

The paper said surveys and interviews in the book show senior officials in the British government planned to transfer Gaddafi to Equatorial Guinea in central Africa during the conflicts in Libya before his death.

Even, former British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell had secretly contacted Equatorial Guinea officials to set the stage for Gaddafi’s escape to the country.

The plan was only called off after Gaddafi was killed on October 20, 2011, the paper reported.

This comes as Britain was one of the countries that committed the main foreign assault force against the Gaddafi forces as he fought the armed groups affiliated with the National Transitional Council (NTC).

The British government had especially close ties with the Gaddafi government under former Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and the new revelations confirm the relation persisted with the current coalition government, after it took power in May 2010, even as Britain pretended to be fighting the former Libyan leader.

Paradoxically, evidence kept emerging of Britain’s continued cooperation with Gaddafi government as war raged in Libya, implying London could at the end turn out to be a would-be savior of its old “friend” rather than his enemy.

One such evidence emerged seven months before Gaddafi’s death when media disclosed that the British government had sent an arms delegation to Libya, comprised of at least 50 British weapons manufacturers, in December 2010, just three months before the foreign military intervention in Libya.

The delegation was official and headed by British ambassador to Libya Richard Northern and present companies specialized in making riot suppression gear.

Another notable example of Britain’s continued diplomatic ties with Gaddafi well after he began his atrocious suppression of protests was the visits by British Queen’s second son Prince Andrew, as London’s special trade ambassador, to Tripoli, including one on March 19, 2011.

And yet British Prime Minister David Cameron said in August 2011 that he is “proud that we have played out part” in the war in Libya, showcasing another instance of British foreign policy hypocrisy, especially when seen in the context of London’s attempt to help Gaddafi escape Libya.