Libya's foreign minister has defected to Britain while London has expelled five other Libyan diplomats from the country.
Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who led Libyan intelligence branch earlier in his career, defected on Wednesday even as the British government moved to expel five other Libyan diplomats.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the parliament, “To underline our grave concern at the regime's behavior I can announce to the house that we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache. The government also judged that were these individuals to remain in Britain they could pose a threat to our security.”
A Foreign Office spokesman had similar comments when speaking to reporters. “We won't go into details on their activities,” he said. “But we believe they are among the strongest Qaddafi supporters in the embassy, that they have put pressure on Libyan opposition and student groups in the UK and that there is a risk of damage to UK national security if they remain.”
Meanwhile, Wednesday night's announcement by the British government of Koussa's defection stunned Libyans. It also left Westerners wondering whether others in dictator Muammar Qaddafi's inner circle now believe that his 41 year-long reign of terror may be coming to an end.
That having been said, the undisciplined opposition forces appear to be unable to maintain their earlier military gains, even with the help of NATO support. Qaddafi's forces have retaken cities and towns in the oil-rich eastern regions of the country, routing the rebels who just days ago had driven the loyalists away.
Koussa is suspected, however, of having been behind the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. And American officials are not entirely convinced that his defection will lead to others. “We think he could be the beginning of a stream of Libyans who think sticking with Qaddafi is a losing game, but we don't know,” a senior official told The New York Times.