Belhaj ruling brings fresh scrutiny on Blair-Gaddafi 'deal in the desert'

[TomSea]

Belhaj ruling brings fresh scrutiny on Blair-Gaddafi 'deal in the desert'

Simon Hooper
Tuesday 17 January 2017 13:08 UTC
Last update:
Tuesday 17 January 2017 13:49 UTC

British intelligence official said rendition of dissident was 'least we could do' days before Tony Blair met Muammar Gaddafi in tent outside Tripoli


Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing a Libyan dissident to sue the British government over his abduction and subsequent torture has once again put the controversial “deal in the desert” between former prime minister Tony Blair and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the spotlight.

The ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, an exiled former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), to move forward with legal action against the former British foreign secretary Jack Straw and Mark Allen, the former head of MI6's counterterrorism unit.
READ: Tortured Libyan dissident wins right to sue UK government

Belhaj and his pregnant wife were seized in Malaysia in 2004 while travelling to the UK to claim asylum and flown by the CIA to Tripoli where he was subsequently imprisoned for six years and said he was tortured.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/belhaj-ruling-brings-fresh-scrutiny-blair-gaddafi-deal-desert-1226755718