Pat Dollard

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Muammar Gaddafi’s authority inside Libya suffered a significant blow when his foreign minister quit and fled to the UK in a specially arranged flight organised by the British intelligence services.

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Mousa Kousa, who was one of the Libyan leader’s closest allies, arrived on a chartered plane from Tunisia and said he was “no longer willing” to represent the dictator’s regime.

We can confirm that Mousa Kousa arrived at Farnborough airport on 30 March from Tunisia,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.

Kousa’s defection provides Britain with a figure of unparalleled intelligence value in terms of understanding the situation within Gaddafi’s inner circle. The move also provides a morale boost to the disorganised rebel forces who have again suffered major reverses at the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces in the past 48 hours.

The Foreign Office said last night: “He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further detail in due course.

“Mousa Kousa 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.”

Kousa’s defection will be seen as a vindication of the coalition’s efforts to intimidate key members of the regime by warning them that if they do not defect they will be taken to the international criminal court to face war crimes trials.

News of the defection first emerged after the official Tunisian news agency reported rumours that Kousa had crossed the border into Libya’s western neighbour, but without any clear indication of his motives. The Libyan government, possibly misled by Mousa Kousa, insisted he had left the country on a diplomatic mission for Gaddafi, but the foreign office then disputed this account.

Britain and the US have been in regular contact with him in recent days, mainly through intelligence sources. Probably more than any other senior official inside the Libyan regime, Kousa is seen as the key figure who persuaded Gaddafi to make a deal with British intelligence agencies to stop developing weapons of mass destruction in return for the ending of its pariah status.

However, his relationship with Britain in the past has been far from convivial. Kousa has previously been seen as one of the controlling forces behind the Lockerbie bombing and it was not clear whether he was seeking political asylum.

In 1980, he was expelled from the UK and, for 15 years, he was head of Libyan foreign intelligence – including in the period of the Lockerbie bombing. He has always denied Libya was involved in the bombing.

The Foreign Office added: “We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people.”

“He has defected from the regime,” said Noman Benotman, a friend of Kousa and senior analyst at Britain’s Quilliam thinktank.

“He wasn’t happy at all. He doesn’t support the government attacks on civilians,” he said.

“He’s seeking refuge in Britain and hopes he will be treated well,” Benotman said.

Kousa’s decision to abandon the regime came as it emerged that Barack Obama had signed a secret government order authorising covert US help to the Libyan rebels via such organisations as the CIA.

The order, known as a “finding” was signed within the last two or three weeks. The move will undoubtedly fuel speculation that the US and its allies are planning to arm the rebels.

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