Billionaire he enraged in bid to be fixer for Gaddafi
As far as most Britons were concerned, Colonel Gaddafi had an unenviable reputation for evil. Not only had the Libyan dictator secretly financed terrorism in Ulster, but he’d been ultimately responsible for the bomb that blew up a Pan am flight over Lockerbie.
To Tony Blair, however, he represented an opportunity.
In 2004, after MI6 persuaded Gaddafi to accept Western aid in return for abandoning his weapons of mass destruction, the Prime Minister happily paid a visit to Libya. Being associated with this ‘deal in the dessert’, Blair felt, would gain him much-needed credibility — particularly after the war in Iraq.
as a show of goodwill, just before Blair arrived in Libya, MI6 and the CIa organised the kidnap of a Libyan jihadi and his wife, who were living in Thailand, and arranged their transportation to Libya for interrogation. The couple’s evidence was to be used in British courts to obtain the deportation to Tripoli of other Libyan dissidents living in London.
simultaneously, MI6 and Libyan intelligence began joint operations against other Libyans living in Britain who were members of the Libyan Islamic fighting Group.
Letters sent by Mark allen, the head of MI6’s counter-terrorism section, to Moussa Koussa, the head of Gaddafi’s intelligence, included the warning that their agreement needed to be kept secret and not be ‘discovered by lawyers or human rights organisations and the media’.
Despite Jack straw’s later denials, the operations would have required his approval and, by implication, Blair’s too, although he would deny ‘any recollection at all’.
after his meeting with Gaddafi in the desert, the PM was triumphant and the two remained in touch.
In 2006, Blair wrote to Gaddafi after an English judge refused to deport two Libyan dissidents back to Libya, where they faced an uncertain fate. ‘I am very disappointed at the court’s decision,’ the PM confided.
The following year, during his final weeks before leaving office, he again visited the dictator — accompanied by the chairman of BP and the head of MI6 counterintelligence. BP was planning to resume oil exploration in the country, but Blair’s purpose was more delicate.
In the last days of his premiership, he was keen to placate Gaddafi by promising the release from a scottish jail of abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan convicted for his involvement in the Lockerbie bombing.
al-Megrahi remained behind bars. But in 2008, after leaving power, Blair again turned up in Libya, this time with some bankers from J.P. Morgan — which was paying him to facilitate deals.
Gaddafi readily agreed to the bank’s request for a licence to trade with Libya. Next, Blair — in his capacity as a Middle East peace envoy — asked Gaddafi for money to go towards education programmes f or Palestinians. Gaddafi agreed, but gave only $1 million — delivered two years later after much lobbying.
after his visit, Blair wrote to the dictator, suggesting he should also fund projects in africa, ‘since you know I am doing a lot of work there and know of good, worthwhile projects for investment’.
The next year, he was back again, in a jet provided by the dictator. This time he introduced Gaddafi to Tim Collins, an american billionaire who wanted to discuss the provision of free mosquito nets to combat malaria in africa.
During the meeting, the dictator urged Collins to invest in a holiday resort on the Libyan coast. Much to the billionaire’s surprise, Blair encouraged this idea
The former Prime Minister, Collins realised, was trying to earn a commission. ‘I don’t need Blair for business,’ he thought, outraged that he’d been brought to Libya under false pretences.
after the meeting, he turned to Blair and exclaimed: ‘This guy Gaddafi is bat-s*** crazy. I’d rather go hungry than deal with a guy who’s a complete lunatic.’
Then he drove to the airport alone, while Blair remained to broker other business possibilities, discuss a prisoner exchange and negotiate contributions to his african charity, aGI. But one big stumbling block remained: al-Megrahi was still in jail. Unless he was released, Gaddafi threatened, Libya would cut its commercial ties with Britain.
Blair assured his host that he would once again try to broker a deal. (al-Megrahi, who was suffering from prostate cancer, was finally released on compassionate grounds in august 2009, with apparently only three months to live. He didn’t die until May 2012.)
spurred on by J.P. Morgan and other companies i nterested in Libya’s oil wealth, Blair visited Colonel Gaddafi a total of six times during the two years after he ceased to be Prime Minister.
In april 2010, Cherie received a substantial contribution to her foundation for Women from Oxand, a french consultancy that was pursuing business in Libya. Neither she nor her husband seemed at all troubled by possible conflicts of interest.
But Gaddafi’s days were numbered. In february 2011, he began brutally suppressing an uprising, vowing that the rebels would be: ‘Hunted down street by street, house by house and wardrobe by wardrobe.’
after failing to persuade him to call a halt, Blair asked David Cameron to grant Gaddafi safe haven.
The Prime Minister refused. Gaddafi was subsequently killed by a mob of his own people.
ADAPTED from Broken Vows: tony Blair — the tragedy Of power by tom Bower, which will be published on thursday by Faber & Faber at £20. © tom Bower. to order a copy for £15, visit mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0808 272 0808. discount until March 5, p&p free on orders over £12.
‘I’d rather go hungry than deal with a lunatic’
‘This must be kept secret from the media’