Report: Assad helped France to capture Gaddafi
Syrian president provided French intelligence with Libyan dictator's satellite telephone number in exchange for easing of French pressure on Damascus, The Telegraph reports
Rami El Obeidi, the former head of foreign intelligence for the movement that overthrew Gaddafi, told The Telegraph that Assad betrayed Gaddafi by selling him to the French for self-preservation, in what is considered in the Middle East as "extraordinary betrayal".
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El Obeidi, who is currently leading one of the largest political parties in Libya, confirmed that a foreign "agent" took part in the operation that led to Gaddafi's death in 2011. He did not state the agent's state of origin, but according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, western diplomats in Tripoli said in case a foreign was part of the operation, "he was almost certainly French".
The report regarding Syria's involvement may cause embarrassment to NATO, whose representatives claimed it did "not target individuals".
According to the alliance's official version, a convoy of vehicles fleeing Sirte two months after Gaddafi fled Teripoli was bombed by NATO warplanes, reportedly unaware of who was in the vehicles.
Later, Gaddafi was found hiding in a drainpipe and was apparently killed en route to the city of Misrata, west of Sirte.
El Obeidi nonetheless stated that "French intelligence played a direct role in the death of Gaddafi, including his killing." He addaed that the French monitored Gaddafi's satellite phone and manged to locate him through calls he made to senior loyalist Yusuf Shakir and Ahmed Jibril, a Palestinian militant leader, in Syria.
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