The ex-intelligence officer added that some CIA agents had been based in the agency’s station in Dubai.
The revelations come as US President Barack Obama is said to have earlier signed an order – known as a “finding” – for secret “all kinds of help”.
It came to light after US officials spoke to reporters following a briefing with senior members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The CIA and the White House have declined to comment.
However, it emerged after Libya’s rebel forces were forced out of the key oil town of Ras Lanuf by a barrage of tank and artillery fire from troops loyal to Col Gaddafi.
Anti-government fighters retreated by 100 miles in just a few hours.
In the latest blow to morale for the outgunned insurgents, they have have been driven back from positions they had occupied in the past few days, including Bin Jawad.
Some fighters, mostly armed with light weapons and riding on 4×4 pick-ups, said they had been overwhelmed by the superior firepower and range of Gaddafi’s weaponry.
Sky’s security editor Sam Kiley said the rebels lost Ras Lanuf because the coalition was reluctant to carry out airstrikes on troops loyal to Col Gaddafi
In Tripoli, Sky’s Jeremy Thompson said Gaddafi supporters had been heard celebrating the dramatic reversal of fortune.
It came as Prime Minister David Cameron joined the US President in refusing to rule out the possibility of supplying arms to opposition fighters.
Mrs Clinton said no decision has been made about giving them weapons but US legal officials believe it is allowed under UN resolution 1973.
Vehicles packed with rebels raced east in retreat on Wednesday, just days after their push west – towards the capital Tripoli and Col Gaddafi’s stronghold of Sirte – gathered pace thanks to coalition airstrikes.
Meanwhile, five Libyan diplomats have been expelled from the UK.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said if the diplomats remained in the country they could “pose a threat” to security.
Sky sources say the five are regarded as the strongest supporters of the Libyan regime within the embassy.
Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, Mr Cameron said a decision had not yet been made on supplying anti-regime forces with weapons.
However, he added that UN resolutions “would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances”.
His announcement comes after Mr Obama made similar comments in a series of TV interviews.
The president earlier said he had already agreed to provide non-lethal aid like communications equipment, medical supplies and perhaps transportation to the opposition.
However, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Sky News he does not believe the resolution will allow the coalition to arm rebels.
“The Security Council Resolution is very clear in my opinion,” he said.
“It requests the enforcement of an arms embargo and actually Nato has decided to participate in the enforcement of the arms embargo. We are there to protect people not to arm people.”
On Tuesday the US officer in charge of the mission in Libya, Admiral James Stavridis, claimed there were “flickers” of al Qaeda and Hizbollah within the rebel opposition.
However, David Cameron’s spokesman disagreed with this and said: “We are in the process of speaking to these people and learning more about their intentions.
“They set out their position very clearly and it did not suggest an extremist agenda.”
:: Uganda is the first nation to offer Col Gaddafi exile. Uganda’s despotic leader Idi Amin, who killed thousands during the 1970s, first sought refuge in Libya after being overthrown.
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