\n 31 March 2011<\/span>
\nLast updated at <\/span>04:21 ET<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has been questioned by officials after arriving in the UK unexpectedly on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He flew in from Tunisia. The UK Foreign Office said he was “no longer willing” to work for Colonel Gaddafi.<\/p>\n
However a Libyan spokesman denied that Mr Moussa had defected and said he was on a diplomatic mission.<\/p>\n
His arrival in the UK comes as Libyan rebels retreat from former strongholds along the eastern coast.<\/p>\n
They are in full retreat from Brega, having lost the key oil port of Ras Lanuf and the nearby town of Bin Jawad. <\/p>\n
In the west, the rebel-held town of Misrata is still reportedly coming under attack from pro-Gaddafi troops, reports say.<\/p>\n
‘Own free will’<\/span><\/p>\n A British Foreign Office spokesperson said Mr Koussa – who is in his early 60s – had arrived at Farnborough airport, west of London, on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n “He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further details in due course.<\/p>\n “Moussa Koussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally – something that he is no longer willing to do.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n <\/div>\n “We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people.”<\/p>\n The Foreign Office in London called on other members of the Libyan government to abandon Col Gaddafi. <\/p>\n UK intelligence officials hope that his deep knowledge of the Libyan regime will help bring about its early end, says BBC diplomatic correspondent Humphrey Hawksley.<\/p>\n Mr Koussa arrived in the UK on what is believed to have been a British military plane, our correspondent adds.<\/p>\n A senior US administration official, speaking to AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, said: “This is a very significant defection and an indication that people around Gaddafi think the writing’s on the wall.”<\/p>\n Helping the rebels?<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, US media reports say President Barack Obama has authorised covert support for the Libyan rebels.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n In terms of the defection of Moussa Koussa, the view of many Libyans is that Col Gaddafi operates a one-man-band dictatorship, and the defection of a minister – while certainly not good news – is survivable for Gaddafi.<\/p>\n After all, this revolution is led by another defecting minister, Mustafa Mohammed Abdul Jalil, and Col Gaddafi seems pretty much to have shrugged off his defection.<\/p>\n What Col Gaddafi really relies on is an inner core of people who are led by his sons and other members of his family and clan. It is their loyalty that is really crucial.<\/p>\n \t\n\t<\/div>\n The CIA and White House have both declined to comment on the reports.<\/p>\n Mr Obama and other coalition leaders have said they are not ruling out supplying weapons to the rebels.<\/p>\n The BBC’s Ben Brown, in the eastern coastal town of Ajdabiya, says the rebels simply cannot compete with the discipline and firepower of Col Gaddafi’s forces. <\/p>\n He says the current situation is a dramatic about-turn for the rebels who, over the weekend, had seized a string of towns along the coast and seemed to be making good progress with the help of coalition air strikes.<\/p>\n Most reports suggested the rebels had fled back to Ajdabiya, and some witnesses said civilians had begun to flee further east towards the rebel-held city of Benghazi.<\/p>\n Maj Gen Suleiman Mahmoud, the second-in-command for the rebels, told the BBC that rebels forces needed time, patience and help to organise themselves.<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript.<\/strong> Media requires JavaScript to play.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n Major General Suleiman Mahmoud: ”We need help”<\/p>\n \t\t\n <\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Our problem [is] we need help – communication, radios, we need weapons,” he said, adding that the rebels had a strategy but fighters did not always obey orders.<\/p>\n Early on Thursday, Nato took sole command of international air operations over Libya.<\/p>\n The alliance says it has the means to enforce the UN resolution aimed at protecting civilians from Col Gaddafi’s forces.<\/p>\n France and the US say they are sending envoys to Benghazi to meet the interim administration. <\/p>\n Earlier this week, an international conference on Libya in London agreed to set up a contact group involving Arab governments to co-ordinate help for a post-Gaddafi Libya.<\/p>\n Several thousand people have been killed and thousands wounded since the uprising against Col Gaddafi’s rule began more than six weeks ago.<\/p>\n Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk<\/b> or text them to 61124<\/b> (UK) or +44 7725 100 100<\/b> (International). If you have a large file you can<\/i> upload here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Read the terms and conditions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\nMoussa Koussa’s career<\/h2>\n
\n
Analysis<\/h2>\n
\n<\/p>\n![\"Major](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c316a2048_rebelone.jpg.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/8c316a2048_rebelone.jpg-150x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\n