Last week, Mauritanian authorities arrested Abdullah Senussi, the former spy chief of Muammar Gaddafi and his black box who holds most of the dictator’s secrets.
Last week, Mauritanian authorities arrested Abdullah Senussi, the former spy chief of Muammar Gaddafi and his black box who holds most of the dictator’s secrets.
Many Western and Arab leaders have been concerned that Mauritania would extradite Senussi to Libya, whose new regime had pledge to hold trial for him.
On the top of these leaders, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country called for the extradition of Senussi to Paris.
France wants to try Senussi for his reported involvement in the attack against the UTA DC10 in 1989, the attack that killed 170, including 54 French.
However, the real reason behind Sarkozy’s concern over Senussi is because the former spy chief knows details how Libya has fund the presidential campaign of French president in 2007.
Senussi also holds information about Gaddafi’s ties with other western countries, the thing that would harm these western and Arab leaders.
Senussi “knows the secrets of all the dirty deals”, including the assassination plot hatched by Gaddafi’s regime, the London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi quoted an expert in the Libyan issues as saying.
It is thought that Senussi is now arrested at the headquarters of the Mauritanian security institution in Nouakchott.
Mauritania had arrested Senussi, who is also Gaddafi’s son in law, after he spent for weeks in Morocco, a high-ranking western official said.
However, Mustapha Khalfi, Minister of Communication in Rabat, confirmed that Morocco didn’t know about Senussi’s existence, adding that the former spy chief entered to the country with faked passport.
For its part, Reuters news agency said that Senussi was looking for a safe haven when he traveled to Mauritania, but he was ambushed by the French and Mauritanian intelligence.
Senussi, 62, is also reportedly known to be the one who plotted major attacks like Lockerbie, airlane blast that killed about 270 people, in addition to other conspiracies against Arabic and African countries, including the assassination bid of the Saudi then heir apparent Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz.
Al-Quds al-Arabi also quoted an Arabic intelligence official as saying that Gaddafi’s son in law “is the only witness for financial corruption and other deals that comprise many countries and leaders including France”.
