Transcripts of two phone calls between Tony Blair and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi reveal the Libyan dictator forced the former prime minister to confirm he did not support Al-Qaeda, as civil war engulfed the North African state.
On Thursday, the ex-PM submitted a transcript of the calls he made to Gaddafi on February 25, 2011, to MPs as part of their investigation into the UK’s policy on Libya.
Addressing MPs in Parliament, Blair insisted he contacted Gaddafi as a “concerned private citizen,” and confirmed he cleared the phone calls with Prime Minister David Cameron and the US State Department.
Blair accused of supporting Al-Qaeda
Blair appears to have been pressured to respond to a number of allegations during the phone calls, including claims he supported Al-Qaeda.
“People spreading rumors through the TV stations. Those people are from Guantanamo, we know them by name, they support Al-Qaeda — do you support Al-Qaeda?” Gaddafi asked Blair.
Blair, who drove the thaw in relations between the West and Gaddafi, replied: “No, absolutely not.”
Libya remains in the grip of civil war with many areas controlled by Islamic extremists linked to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Crispin Blunt MP, chair of the Committee, said: “The transcripts supplied by Mr Blair provide a new insight into the private views of Colonel Gaddafi as his dictatorship began to crumble around him.
“The failure to follow Mr Blair’s calls to ‘keep the lines open’ and for these early conversations to initiate any peaceful compromise continue to reverberate.”
Blair’s business interests tripled in profits
The transcripts were made public a day after accounts published for Blair’s business, Windrush Ventures Ltd, reveal his company saw its turnover increase by a third to £19.4 million in 2015, while profits tripled to £2.6 million.
Staff working for the firm have received an average pay increase of more than £30,000, according to the Mail Online.
Tony Blair’s office said in a statement: “As we stress every year, the financial results released today do not present the overall profits of either of the Windrush or Firerush businesses.”
This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.
Via RT.