Tripoli Files Show CIA Working With Libya .
By SIOBHAN GORMAN in Washington and CHARLES LEVINSON and MARGARET COKER in Tripoli
A fighter loyal to Libya's National Transitional Council guards noontime prayers Friday in the newly renamed Martyr's Square in central Tripoli.
The Central Intelligence Agency and Libyan intelligence services developed such a tight relationship during the George W. Bush administration that the U.S. shipped terror suspects to Libya for interrogation and suggested the questions they should be asked, according to documents found in Libya's External Security agency headquarters.
The relationship was close enough that the CIA moved to establish "a permanent presence" in Libya in 2004, according to a note from Stephen Kappes, at the time the No. 2 in the CIA's clandestine service, to Libya's then-intelligence chief, Moussa Koussa.
Libya's Revolution
Alexandre Meneghini/Associated Press
People in the rebel-held town of Benghazi celebrated the news Aug. 22 of the capture of Moammar Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam..
The memo began "Dear Musa," and was signed by hand, "Steve." Mr. Kappes was a critical player in the secret negotiations that led to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi's 2003 decision to give up his nuclear program. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Kappes, who has retired from the agency, declined to comment.
A U.S. official said Libya had showed progress at the time. "Let's keep in mind the context here: By 2004, the U.S. had successfully convinced the Libyan government to renounce its nuclear-weapons program and to help stop terrorists who were actively targeting Americans in the U.S. and abroad," the official said.
The files documenting the renewal of ties between the CIA and Libyan intelligence were reviewed and copied by researchers from Human Rights Watch during a tour of Libya's External Security agency headquarters in downtown Tripoli. Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert said he was touring the building on Friday as part of the group's effort to help the Libyan transitional authority secure sensitive documents left by the Gadhafi regime, which collapsed in August after a five-month rebellion.
Mr. Bouckaert said he discovered the files inside the complex in a room that guards described as the former office of Mr. Koussa, who became foreign minister in 2009. Mr. Bouckaert photographed the documents, leaving the originals in their place, and gave copies to The Wall Street Journal.
Human Rights Watch has been critical of the U.S. policy of sending terror suspects to third countries for interrogation, a practice known as rendition. The practice dates at least to 1995, when Egypt began aiding the U.S. with rendition.
U.S. officials say they obtained assurances from the recipient countries that the rendered detainees would be treated humanely. "There are lots of countries willing to take terrorists off the street who want to kill Americans," the U.S. official said. "That doesn't mean U.S. concerns about human rights are ignored in the process."
In an April 15, 2004 letter to Libyan intelligence, the CIA proposed the rendition of another man, saying, "We respectfully request an expression of interest from your service regarding taking custody."
Citing "recently developed agreements," the CIA asked the Libyans to "agree to take our requirements for debriefings of [the suspect], as well as a guarantee that [his] human rights will be protected."
The files also show the close relationship that some British intelligence officials had with Mr. Koussa.
Mr. Koussa, who defected from Col. Gadhafi's government in March, was credited with helping negotiate Libya's rapprochement with the international community and bartering an end to sanctions in return for Libya renouncing its weapons-of-mass-destruction program.
Yet he was also one of the stalwarts of the Gadhafi regime and headed the foreign intelligence service during a time when many Western officials believed Col. Gadhafi was funding and supporting international terrorist groups. In 1980, he was expelled from his diplomatic post in the U.K. after calling in a newspaper interview for the killing of Libyan dissidents in Great Britain. Libya later claimed he had been misquoted.
By the early years of the George W. Bush administration, however, as seen in the 2004 memo, Mr. Kappes was writing to Mr. Koussa: "Libya's cooperation on WMD and other issues, as well as our nascent intelligence cooperation mean that now is the right moment to move ahead."
The intelligence services had discussed the move for "quite some time" Mr. Kappes wrote.
The files provide an extraordinary window into the highly secretive and controversial practice of rendition, whereby the agency would send detainees to other countries for interrogation, including ones known for harsh treatment of detainees. The program was ramped up for terror detainees after the Sept. 11 attacks.
When taking over the CIA at the outset of the Obama administration, then-director Leon Panetta said the agency would continue to use rendition, but would seek assurances that the detainee wouldn't be tortured—which has been the standing U.S. policy. Mr. Panetta left the CIA two months ago to lead the Pentagon.
"We are eager to work with you in the questioning of the terrorist we recently rendered to your country," Mr. Kappes wrote in the memo, adding that he would like to send two more officers to Libya to question a suspect directly.
The documents show the logistical hurdles the rendition program experienced, such as Hong Kong's refusal to allow a Libyan aircraft to land, the requirements to show valid insurance documents, and certifications of airworthiness.
In some of the documents, the CIA provided Libyan intelligence with a long list of questions it wanted to have posed to one suspect in Tripoli's custody, a Libyan-Canadian who Western intelligence agencies accused of being a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a now-defunct group the U.S. suspected of links to al Qaeda. The Americans wanted to know, among other things, whether the man had relationships with named individuals in Cincinnati, Seattle and Los Angeles or with companies across the U.S. from a Colorado auto-sales firm to a global shipping company in California.
Many of the questions U.S. intelligence officials wanted posed to the suspect were about other alleged members of the organization.
Another document said the CIA was aware that Libyan intelligence was cooperating with the British to bring to Tripoli a suspected militant leader who was being held in detention in Hong Kong for immigration violations.
An April 6, 2004 memo titled "Iraqi Scientists," the CIA asked Libyan intelligence to let U.S. agents interview several Iraqi scientists who were living in Libya, part of a postwar scramble to determine the fate of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
In one memo with the subject line "ALLEGED TERRORIST CELL WITHIN LIBYA PLANNING FOR ATTACKS AGAINST U.S. INTERESTS," the CIA asked for help tracking down a suspected "operational cell" in Libya suspected of being in contact with al Qaeda operatives in Iraq. The CIA said it feared U.S. government officials and commercial interests in Libya would be attacked.
"Thank you very much for your speedy assistance," the memo concluded.
—Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article
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26 COMMENTS
1 hour ago..
Erik Roggenburg wrote:
Excellent work done by the CIA and the U.S. government. Back in the 80's, who would ever have thought that the Gaddafi regime would actually cooperate with the U.S. on anything??
Now that Gaddafi has fallen, it will be interesting to see if Libya will be as willing to work with the U.S. I am sure the Obama administration carefully thought through their actions in Libya and are confident in the likelihood that the next Libyan leader will work with them in his own self-interest as well as the United States' interests...
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Nonsubscriber comments are set to "Hide" Show this comment + .kaspar torosian replied:
libya is now owned by turkey. too bad U.S., we had one guy in control and producing oil. now it all goes to turkey and italy is in trouble. maybe germany can bail out italy too.
______ 56 minutes ago.Nonsubscriber comments are set to "Hide" Show this comment + .Thomas Boucher replied:
It will be interesting to see if ANYONE will be willing to work with us.
1 hour ago..John Sliwka wrote:
Journal Communityclose window Your message has been sent.Close window Connect
so whatt is new?
Gaddafi was a rogue regime and that was known at that time. As bombing Gaddafi did not work because the Italians warned him then the US assisted him in his mischief.
the CIA aided Sadtham Hussein against Iran and the Taliban agaist the Russian and the the USA complain that their former allies are not nice to them.
Dancing with the devil is not profitable on the long term but who cares.
58 minutes ago..Frank Seldin wrote:
This story truly brings out the hypocrisy on all sides. Obama supporters who want to have active engagement with terrorist Iran decry the Bush administration engaging Ghadafi. Obama haters who think we should bomb Syria for their internal actions defend engaging Ghadafi.
The un-asked question is whether US foreign policy should be "principle-based" or opportunistic. I am a Machiavellian. We should be doing whatever is in our strategic best interests (I guess you could call that a "principle").
57 minutes ago.Nonsubscriber comments are set to "Hide" Show this comment + .Thomas Boucher wrote:
Nice work, Barry. Your illegal war has taken out an ally against Al Qaeda.
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