Britain refused Thursday to offer Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa immunity from prosecution after his apparent defection, but said his departure would hearten rebels fighting to topple Moammar Qadhafi's regime. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the resignation of Koussa, one of the most senior members of Qadhafi's government, shows that the Libyan leader's regime is "fragmented, under pressure and crumbling."
But Hague said "Koussa is not being offered any immunity from British or international justice," dampening speculation that the British government might seek to overlook allegations levelled by Libya's opposition that he played a pivotal role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, among other atrocities. "Qadhafi must be thinking to himself, 'Who will be the next to walk away'?" Hague said.
Hague said it wouldn't be "helpful to advertise" whether or not other senior members of the regime planned to quit but that he believes many likely privately opposed Qadhafi's actions. Authorities debriefed Koussa, a trusted Qadhafi adviser and longtime stalwart in the Libyan regime, after he fled to Britain on Wednesday on a private plane from Tunisia apparently with little notice to the British government. Hague said Koussa was in a "secure place in the United Kingdom," but did not disclose further details.
The Libyan opposition alleges that Koussa, regarded as one of Qadhafi's closest allies, had a role in masterminding the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, most of them Americans. Koussa was expelled from Britain in 1980 after giving an interview advocating the use of violence to silence UK critics of Libya's government. His name also was associated with the bombing of a French aircraft over Niger in 1989.
Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described Koussa as a key player who had a "fundamentally important" role in negotiations to bring Libya back into the international fold in the 1990s after terror attacks tainted the North African country's reputation. Koussa's departure would shift the balance away from Gadhafi, if only psychologically. "Moussa Koussa's apparent defection certainly his unscheduled visit here will be a very important factor in just adding to the weight against the Qadhafi regime and tipping the balance against him," Straw told BBC radio.