No immunity offered to Libyan Minister

UK: Libya’s Foreign Minister has not been offered immunity following his unexpected arrival in Britain, London said Thursday, while urging other members of Moamer Kadhafi’s “crumbling” regime to quit.

Mussa Kussa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and one-time ambassador to Britain, arrived “under his own free will” at Farnborough airport southwest of London Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

He was being questioned by British officials, but Hague insisted that Kussa, who has been accused of masterminding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, had not been offered immunity from prosecution.

“Mussa Kussa is not being offered any immunity from British or international justice,” Hague told reporters.

The 59-year-old Libyan flew to Britain with his son from Tunisia, where he had spent two days on what Tripoli had officially described as a private visit.

Kadhafi’s government, embroiled in a war with rebel fighters against his 42-year rule, later shrugged off the defection by saying the regime “does not depend on individuals”.

Hague said the Western-educated Kussa had told British officials he was resigning from his job, adding that he was now being held in a “secure place” while they discussed “his options and our options”.

A senior administration official in the United States, which with Britain and France has led air strikes to protect civilians from Kadhafi’s forces, said Kussa’s resignation showed “the writing’s on the wall” for the regime.

Hague echoed this, saying: “His resignation shows that Kadhafi’s regime, which has already seen significant defections to the opposition, is fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within.

“Kadhafi must be asking himself who will be the next to abandon him.”

A senior aide from Kadhafi’s regime has been in talks with the British government, the Guardian newspaper reported on its website Thursday.

LONDON, Friday, AFP