1 The Foreign Office confirmed Musa Kusa had travelled to Britain of his own free will and was resigning his post – in a setback to the dictator’s grip on power.
It said he had arrived on a plane from Tunisia and was “no longer willing” to represent the dictator on the world stage.
“We can confirm that Musa Kusa arrived at Farnborough airport on March 30 from Tunisia,” a spokesman said.
“He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further detail in due course.
“Musa Kusa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally – something that he is no longer willing to do.
“We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people.”
Questions were earlier raised about Mr Kusa’s whereabouts after Tunisian news agency TAP reported he had entered that country, but gave no reasons for his move.
A Libyan government spokesman later claimed he had not defected and was merely on a “diplomatic mission”, but declined to say where he was going. Libya’s deputy foreign minister Khalid Kaim dismissed the reports as “nonsense”.
But within hours the Foreign Office confirmed he was seeking refuge and encouraging further regime defections.
Noman Benotman, a Libyan-born friend of Mr Kusa and analyst at Britain’s Quilliam think-tank, said: “He wasn’t happy at all. He doesn’t support the government attacks on civilians.”
Azeldin El Sharif, president of the British Libyan Solidarity Campaign, told Sky News it was a “very significant” step forward for the opposition’s cause.
He said: “This is an absolutely massive loss for Gaddafi.”
Further diplomatic stress is now being put on the structures of state of the regime.
Middle East expert Shashank Joshi said: “The latest Arab state to increase the pressure on the Gaddafi regime is Tunisia, whose prime minister announced plans to freeze all assets belonging to the Libyan leader.”
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