US plays ‘low-profile’ in hunt for Gaddafi

US: US intelligence agencies have a crucial role to play in tracking down Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi but are anxious to keep a low profile, current and former officials said Thursday.

Although the military and the State Department sought to distance Washington from the manhunt, current and former officials acknowledged that finding the fugitive strongman was an important priority for US spy agencies.

“It’s a question of getting to him before he tries to form an insurgency against the new government,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“In terms of Kadhafi, I’m sure the agency (CIA) is looking for patterns in his previous experiences which could give clues as to where he might go.

“Does he have a stronghold somewhere in the Libyan desert that he’s frequented in the past? Is there a tribal stronghold where he would most likely be able to hang out?”

The United States has a vast array of assets to bring to bear, including surveillance aircraft, eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, and tips from high-ranking defectors and CIA operatives on the ground, he said.

Defectors such as Mussa Kussa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and foreign minister, could be a crucial resource in locating Kadhafi by providing insights into where he might flee.

“We’ve also benefited from the defection of senior Libyan officials like Mussa Kussa, who have undoubtedly been asked quite forcefully to tell everything that they have to know about how the colonel’s military and intelligence structures work,” Riedel said. AFP