Tripoli: Muammar Gaddafi’s son has urged former British prime minister Tony Blair to utilise his “diplomatic skills” in helping his father’s regime in ‘crushing their enemies’.
A close ally of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has reportedly urged Blair to help Libya to attain stability.
“He is peacemaker in the Middle East, and should be able to use his talents for peacemaking here. We need his diplomatic skills now as we set about crushing our enemies,” the Daily Mail quoted the official, who is also a senior figure in the Libyan regime, as saying.
“It is time for the international community to bring peace to Libya and Tony Blair could be at the forefront of this process. Tony Blair is a good friend who would put the country on a stable footing,” he added.
The official’s statement has come amid warnings by British MPs and critics that Blair, who is reportedly still a ‘good friend’ of the Libyan dictator, could be severely embarrassed if the Gaddafi regime collapses.
The families of Lockerbie bombing victims have also warned that the former prime minister would be left with a ‘dirty bib’ when full details of the trade deals between Libya and Western companies, some of which were engineered by Blair, are revealed, the paper said.
Earlier, Saif had claimed in an interview that Blair was a friend of the Gaddafi regime, adding that he was a consultant to the Libyan Investment Authority, the sovereign fund responsible for the country’s GBP 50 billion oil wealth. Blair, however, has denied the claims of Gaddafi’s son.
Since the end of Blair’s tenure, the former British PM has reportedly received fees of up to GBP 2 million a year as an adviser to JP Morgan, which has important business interests in Libya.
On being asked if Blair was in touch with Colonel Gaddafi or any members of his regime through telephone or e-mail, the source said: “If he was it would be a secret. Their recent negotiations have all been a secret.”
Yesterday, former Libyan justice minister Mohamed Mustafa Abud al-Jalil had claimed of having proof that Gaddafi had “personally given the order for the Lockerbie bombing``.
ANI
