A treasure trove of hundreds of thousands of secret documents uncovered by TIME and several other news organizations in the Libyan capital on Friday apparently reveals that the CIA and Britain's MI6 maintained a close - even intimate - relationship with their Libyan counterparts dating as early as 2002, before the CIA had set up a "permanent" mission in Libya (which, according to the documents, began in 2004). United Nations sanctions were lifted in September 2003. U.S. economic sanctions ended in Sept. 20, 2004.
Binders full of correspondence sent by the CIA and MI6 to Libyan intelligence and, often specifically, Moussa Koussa, who was Muammar Gaddafi's longtime right-hand man, reveal that the western intelligence agencies worked closely with the Libyans on the renditions of terrorism suspects to Libya for questioning between 2002 and 2004. (Correspondence before and after those dates were not immediately available.) According to the documents, the CIA appears to have expressed interest in participating in the interrogations on Libyan soil. A 2004 letter to Moussa Koussa from CIA operative "Steve," regards "setting up a permanent CIA presence in Libya." But the documents seem to make clear that the relationship has already existed for some time. "We are also eager to work with you in the questioning of terrorists we recently rendered to your country," Steve writes. "I would like to send to Libya an additional two officers and would appreciate if they could have direct access to question this individual."
The documents were recovered in what appears to have been an office used by Moussa Kouassa in an unmarked building in Tripoli. The rebels guarding it were unsure of whether the building belonged to the Libyan Foreign Ministry, or another agency, but many of the documents were marked "External Security." (See pictures of the lengthy battle for Libya.)
Types of Documents
Among the documents found were rendition proposals, rendition schedules, a speech drafted for Gaddafi by MI6 about making the Middle East "a WMD free zone," lists of terrorist suspect interrogation questions requested by the CIA, wire taps of foreign embassies, Libyan telephone numbers intercepted by and provided by the CIA to Libyan authorities, as well as transcripts of terrorism suspect interrogations - including a 400-page file detailing interrogations of current Libyan rebel commander in Tripoli, and former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Abdel Hakim al-Khulidi Belhaj.
The CIA and MI6 apparently trusted their Libyan counterparts enough to offer detailed information on Arabs outside of Libya upon request by Libyan authorities - even when the U.S. and British intelligence agencies did not see the specified individuals as threats. In one note dated Feb. 23, 2004, Libya seems to have requested information on a Kuwaiti individual. The CIA doesn't see him as posing any danger, it says. But it provides detailed information on that man's role in Kuwaiti politics anyway.
The CIA also apparently provided their Libyan counterparts with intelligence on specific Libyans that they were interested in, so as to facilitate their capture. The intelligence appears to include lists of Libyan phone numbers attached to specific suspect names, aliases, passport and their suspected locations. (See photos of life in Benghazi during wartime.)
And the CIA seemed to have shared other intelligence too with the Libyans, ranging from information on packages intercepted in Turkey that allegedly carried Tunisian passports to profiles of "key North Africans" in Pakistan and Afghanistan to details between meetings of the Swedish Security Service and a Libyan contact code named "Joseph."
Files in Arabic detailed correspondence with other Arabic-speaking countries and factions with which Col. Muammar Gaddafi's government did business. That included armed groups that Libya funded in return for help in providing mercenary services within Libya.
One document appears to be an undated draft letter in Arabic from Libya's External Security Service to the Salvation Front of Somalia, the latter, according to the letter, "formed because of the Libyan people under the command of the Brother Leader and the father of Muammar Gaddafi." Then the letter gets to the point: "We'd like to call in a few favors ... [requesting] at least 10,000 jihadis [to come to Libya,] mostly rocket specialists and anti-aircraft machine gun specialists..."
See a video on the mental toll of Libya's war.
The Renditions
The rendition files show close coordination between the CIA, MI6, their Libyan counterparts, and other foreign governments, including European countries, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Pakistan on the rendition of terrorism suspects to Libya. Rendition flights sometimes appear to have been transited through the Seychelles and Diego Garcia, where the U.S. military maintains a base.
A March 6, 2004 letter details what seem to be plans to intercept LIFG leader Abdullah al-Sadiq en route from Kuala Lumpur to London. The CIA notes that al-Sadiq would be intercepted in Bangkok - along with his wife, who the letter notes was four months pregnant - and deliver them to Tripoli. There is an extensive amount of correspondence on al-Sadiq's rendition, which appears to have been managed very carefully by the CIA down to the specific questions that Libyan authorities were instructed to ask him upon his arrival in Libya. (According to Human Rights Watch, Abdullah al-Sadiq was an alias used by the rebel military commander Abdel Hakim Belhaj. Belhaj was released from prison in 2010. He apparently joined the rebel fighters only recently.)
But Sadiq's case wasn't the only one subjected to the CIA's apparent micromanagement. Other correspondence also included dozens of specific questions that they would like to see posed to the terror suspects in question, at a time when rights organizations were shedding light on extreme abuses of prisoners in Libyan custody, including the 1996 massacre of some 1,200 prisoners in Tripoli's Abu Slim prison. The interrogation instructions apparently sent by the CIA are detailed and extensive, including instructions for what to ask depending on whether the suspect "answers in the affirmative" to certain questions. Question number 2 on one such list reads: "(if subject answers in the affirmative to question one) what aliases does Mansour Alfallah use?" (See how NATO has helped the Libyan rebels.)
A CIA letter dated April 15, 2004 appears to promise the Libyans that a specific terror suspect would be abducted and sent to Libya as soon as confirmation was received from the Libyans that they would follow through on receiving the suspect and questioning him. "Your service is no doubt aware of terrorist suspect and LIFG member MUSTAFA SALIM ALI MODERI TARABULSI, AKA SHAYKH MUSA. Musa was until recently, acting as the deputy of LIFG member 'Abd el-Salam el-Diki AKA Shaykh Abu Abdallah al-Zulaytini. Our service is in a position to deliver Sheykh Musa to your physical custody, similar to what we have done with other senior LIFG members in the recent past. We respectfully request an expression of interest from your service regarding taking custody of Musa. In addition, per our recently developed agreements, we request that your service agree to take our requirements for debriefing of Musa, as well as a guarantee that Musa's human rights will be protected. We look forward to your comments."
The CIA's correspondence appears to sanction the rendition of terror suspects' families as well. One letter regarding the rendition of "LIFG Deputy Emir Abu Munthir" dated March 23, 2004 reads: "Our service has become aware that last weekend LIFG Deputy Emir Abu Munthir and his spouse and children were being held in Hong Kong detention for immigration/passport violations. We are also aware that your service had been cooperating with the British to effect Abu Munthir's removal to Tripoli, and that you had an aircraft available for this purpose in the Maldives . . . Accordingly, if your government were to charter a foreign aircraft from a third country, the Hong Kong government may be able to coordinate with you to render Abu Munthir and his family into your custody." (See how the song of Libya's revolution is becoming a hit.)
Requests Made by Intelligence Services
The intelligence agencies apparently often made requests of one another as well, and each appeared to deliver. There seems to be correspondence about Iraqi scientists in Guantanamo and in Libya that both American and Libyan parties are interested in, as well as U.S. responses to Libyan requests to interview Libyans in Guantanamo. What appears to be a CIA letter titled "Iraq scientists" dated April 6, 2004 reads: "...You will recall that during the February meeting you had kindly offered us the opportunity to interview several Iraqis that were currently living in Libya . . . we are particularly interested in the current location and status of both Dr. Rajab and Mr. Ahmad Khudr Qadir (number three on your message of 31 March.) Does your service know where either man is currently? If so, can your service make either (or both) available?"
On matters of security regarding the Libyan ruling family (the document styles Gaddafi as al-Qadhafi), both MI6 and the CIA also oblige. A letter from MI6 dated Jan. 20, 2004 reads "We have passed the details regarding the threat to SAIF AL-ISLAM AL-QADHAFI to our French counterparts. They have advised us that they do not have any traces on the individuals named in the report, and that there is no indication that they are in France or that they have visited France in the past. They commented that the Qatari interior minister was known to be an Islamic extremist sympathizer."
See TIME's special report: "The Middle East in Revolt."
Close Relationship
The CIA and MI6 seem to have corresponded regularly with their Libyan counterparts, sending weekly test faxes to ensure that communication lines were working. At one point, the test faxes appear to occur daily. One December 2002 fax reads "Test fax returning as requested big boy!" And letters to Moussa Koussa from both CIA and MI6 agents reflect a comfortable, almost intimate level of friendship, in which agents communicated on a first name basis. A December 2003 letter to Koussa from an MI6 agent is signed "your friend Mark." Another from MI6, wishes the Libyan counterpart a "Happy Christmas." Another December 2003 letter from MI6 begins: "This is an informal letter to reach you by hand of Khalid who has just arrived in London with a very large volume of dates and oranges..."
The messages also detail CIA and MI6 agents' names and contact information, as well as their flight itineraries, and hotel addresses while visiting Tripoli, indicating a deep level of trust. (See photos of the rebels training in Libya.)
There is regular discussion between MI6 and their Libyan counterparts regarding a Libyan contact in London coded "JOSEPH," who assisted in the monitoring of Islamists and mosques in the U.K. and Sweden. It is noted that Swedish authorities also took part in the meetings and communications with Joseph. One 2003 fax from MI6 reads: "1. We phoned JOSEPH on 4/12/03 and arranged to meet the following day in Manchester at 4:30 . . . Observing JOSEPH from across the busy street, JOSEPH arrived on his own and we greeted each other in the foyer. JOSEPH was nervous. He had a paranoid walk to the hotel across Manchester with too much eye contact from passersby that had unduly unnerved him."
MI6 and CIA Rivalry
Despite what appears to be an intense level of cooperation, the documents also seem to reveal at times what appears to be a competition between western intelligence services. An undated letter from MI6 to Libyan intelligence reads: "Most importantly I congratulate you on the safe arrival of Abu Abdallah Sadiq. This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the reliable relationship we have built over recent years. I am so glad. I was grateful to you for helping the officer we sent out last week. Abu Abd Allah's information on the situation in this country in of urgent importance to us. Amusingly, we got a request from the Americans to channel a request for information from Abu Abd Allah through the Americans. I have no intention of doing any such thing. The intelligence about Abu Abd Allah was British. I know I did not pay for air cargo. But I feel I have the right to deal with you direct on this and am very grateful to you for the help you are giving us."
See "Out of Libya's Shadows: A Source Reveals His Real Identity."
See how the youth in Libya are looking beyond Gaddafi.
View this article on Time.com
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