0:00:05 > 0:00:10After 42 years of tyrannical rule, Colonel Gaddafi is dead. World
0:00:10 > 0:00:14leaders marked the mood. To date is a day to remember of Colonel
0:00:14 > 0:00:24Gaddafi's victims. But one of his most ruthless henchman is still on
0:00:24 > 0:00:25
0:00:25 > 0:00:31the run. We tracked him down to his five star hideaway in the sun.
0:00:31 > 0:00:37Moussa Koussa helped prop up the Gaddafi regime for four decades but
0:00:37 > 0:00:43he was also Britain's secret friend. Tonight, how we colluded with him.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Whilst he was organising torture, and even inflicting abuse himself.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52TRANSLATION: While I was being questioned, Moussa Koussa was
0:00:52 > 0:00:58shocking me in the neck with the electric rod. I am for the first
0:00:58 > 0:01:08time, the secret torture tapes, incontrovertible proof of Gaddafi's
0:01:08 > 0:01:21
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Five-star luxury at a hotel in Qatar. Among the international
0:01:25 > 0:01:30businessmen and jet-setting playboy it is this man, Moussa Koussa. He
0:01:30 > 0:01:34was one of Colonel Gaddafi's inner circle, a ruthless spy chief
0:01:34 > 0:01:39trusted with the security of the country and stamping out dissent.
0:01:39 > 0:01:47He is now on the run, but what is intriguing is that when he fled
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Libya at the start of the uprising, he chose to defect to Britain.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55Couser is still being questioned at a secret location tonight, and is
0:01:55 > 0:01:59said to be in a fragile state of mind. His resignation shows
0:01:59 > 0:02:05Gaddafi's regime is fragmented, under pressure, and crumbling from
0:02:05 > 0:02:10within. Moussa Koussa was at the heart of Gaddafi's regime. It has
0:02:10 > 0:02:14long been said he was involved with the Lockerbie bombing. He should
0:02:14 > 0:02:20also know who was responsible for the shooting of policewoman Yvonne
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in 1984. So his defection here in
0:02:25 > 0:02:29March was an opportunity to get to the truth. Moussa Koussa is
0:02:29 > 0:02:34responsible for the deaths of 270 innocent civilians, as well as
0:02:34 > 0:02:38thousands of his own people as part of the Gaddafi regime. He has to be
0:02:38 > 0:02:48held accountable for my brother's death and the death of thousands of
0:02:48 > 0:02:48
0:02:48 > 0:02:53others. Now, with Gaddafi dead, Moussa Koussa is the guardian of
0:02:53 > 0:03:03many of Libya's secret. So why, with little explanation, did
0:03:03 > 0:03:04
0:03:04 > 0:03:10Britain let him go? Now free, Libya is still surrendering its secrets.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14For four decades, it was closed to the world. In recent years, we saw
0:03:14 > 0:03:23only a reformed clown, a fading tyrant with pantomime policies
0:03:23 > 0:03:33sitting on and -- a lake of oil, but this was a nation terrorised by
0:03:33 > 0:03:35
0:03:35 > 0:03:40secret police when neighbours informed on each other. Now, those
0:03:40 > 0:03:46he wants targeted are the ones in charge. In Tripoli four weeks ago,
0:03:46 > 0:03:51I was invited out with a team whose job it was to capture remnants from
0:03:51 > 0:04:01the former regime. They were hunting 25 of Gaddafi's armed
0:04:01 > 0:04:09
0:04:09 > 0:04:13supporters, hiding out in a These are the very people who were
0:04:13 > 0:04:19being rounded up and captured by Gaddafi regime loyalist until weeks
0:04:19 > 0:04:28ago, and now they are the ones doing the hunting. An informant had
0:04:28 > 0:04:38already told them their quarry would fight to the death. Then,
0:04:38 > 0:04:38
0:04:39 > 0:04:43incoming fire. These buildings are dangerous because they are the
0:04:43 > 0:04:49hiding place for torturers and guards, people who once worked in
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Libya's notorious political prison just around the corner. It is in
0:04:53 > 0:05:01the south of Tripoli, and cities where Gaddafi used to dump his
0:05:01 > 0:05:07political opponents, real and imagined. Nearly everybody you
0:05:07 > 0:05:12speak to in Libya has some dark story about what happened to a
0:05:12 > 0:05:22friend or relative behind these walls. This is Abu Salim prison and
0:05:22 > 0:05:29
0:05:29 > 0:05:39his symbol of the unbridled When Tripoli fell, the inmates of
0:05:39 > 0:05:39
0:05:39 > 0:05:49Abu Salim prison began freeing themselves. They hacked open doors
0:05:49 > 0:05:50
0:05:50 > 0:06:00with anything they could find. You can see the desperate faces of
0:06:00 > 0:06:00
0:06:00 > 0:06:10people who had been locked away here for up to 30 years. One of
0:06:10 > 0:06:12
0:06:12 > 0:06:17them was this man, Sami Al Saadi. Get your bearings. This was it?
0:06:17 > 0:06:23was brought here for being the deputy leader of the fighting group
0:06:23 > 0:06:33intent on assassinating Gaddafi. He was hauled in front of a kangaroo
0:06:33 > 0:06:49
0:06:49 > 0:06:59This is the uniform you walk? How do You Know they were happy - were
0:06:59 > 0:07:02
0:07:02 > 0:07:07they smiling? Whilst on death row, Sami was interrogated and tortured,
0:07:07 > 0:07:14but remarkably it was the UK which helped to send him here. Into the
0:07:14 > 0:07:19hands of Moussa Koussa, who then ran Libya's intelligence service.
0:07:19 > 0:07:25Moussa Koussa once lived in London. In 1980, he was the Libyan
0:07:25 > 0:07:29ambassador. But he was expelled for backing a plan to murder two of
0:07:29 > 0:07:39Gaddafi's opponents living in the UK. His official role for more than
0:07:39 > 0:07:42
0:07:43 > 0:07:51a decade was Libya's chief of spies. After Tripoli fell, his old offices
0:07:51 > 0:07:55were abandoned, but some documents survived the torching. They expose
0:07:55 > 0:08:05Libya's secret relationship with the UK. In a series of letters
0:08:05 > 0:08:06
0:08:06 > 0:08:09between Moussa Koussa and MI6. These documents are extraordinary.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15They show the real detail of the secret relationship between Britain
0:08:15 > 0:08:21and America, and Gaddafi's police state. What is amazing is the tone
0:08:21 > 0:08:24of them, the friendliness. They are cosy and smock at some stages, and
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I guess the people who wrote them thought they would never see the
0:08:29 > 0:08:34light of day. They show one senior MI6 officer looking forward to
0:08:34 > 0:08:41having lunch with Moussa Koussa over Christmas, and signing the
0:08:41 > 0:08:50letter off with "your friend". They also show British spies were
0:08:50 > 0:08:56engaged in something sinister, something illegal. The letters show
0:08:56 > 0:09:00that our secret services colluded with Moussa Koussa to kidnap Sami
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Al Saadi and others. They were Gaddafi his political opponents
0:09:06 > 0:09:16living abroad, and at the height of the war on terror, Britain
0:09:16 > 0:09:16
0:09:16 > 0:09:26considered them terrorists. In fact, back in the 90s, Sami had lived in
0:09:26 > 0:09:29
0:09:29 > 0:09:33London and been given political But after he left, MI6 became
0:09:33 > 0:09:38suspicious about his Islamist connections. They helped arrange
0:09:38 > 0:09:44for him to be snatched from an airport in the Far East and return
0:09:44 > 0:09:54to Libya and Moussa Koussa. Sami and his wife were bundled onto a
0:09:54 > 0:10:08
0:10:08 > 0:10:13plane with their four young In a very same week, we handed Sami
0:10:13 > 0:10:20over in 2004, Tony Blair arrived to meet Gaddafi in the desert. He was
0:10:20 > 0:10:25our new ally in the war against terror. In the background, our
0:10:25 > 0:10:33friend Moussa Koussa. As Tony Blair enjoyed the hospitality, Moussa
0:10:33 > 0:10:43Koussa found time to slip away with a -- for a chat with the newly
0:10:43 > 0:10:56
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Other documents show just how close the relationship was becoming. In
0:11:01 > 0:11:06one, a senior MI6 officer said the rendition of a Gaddafi opponent was
0:11:06 > 0:11:13the least we can do for you, and described the business simply as
0:11:13 > 0:11:19cargo. But how was that cargo which we had helped deliver treated once
0:11:19 > 0:11:24it arrived in Abu Salim prison? Libya was giving reassurances that
0:11:24 > 0:11:29after rendition, none of these prisoners would face any harm. But
0:11:29 > 0:11:33what were those reassurances really worth? We were dealing with a
0:11:33 > 0:11:37secretive police state notorious for torturing and murdering its
0:11:37 > 0:11:47political opponents, and yet we were sending people back here on
0:11:47 > 0:11:50
0:11:50 > 0:11:55trust. Earlier this month, I was out with this team again in Tripoli.
0:11:55 > 0:12:03They thought they had found another part of Libya's former spy network,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07a local security office. They are not even looking for people to a
0:12:07 > 0:12:17rest, they are trying to find stashes of secret documents that
0:12:17 > 0:12:27are still emerging around Tripoli. Inside, mobile prisons used to
0:12:27 > 0:12:30
0:12:30 > 0:12:39house captured opponents. Shelves of intelligence used to incriminate
0:12:39 > 0:12:44them. But, elsewhere, they found something more chilling. Among the
0:12:44 > 0:12:50team today, a man who was himself an inmate at Abu Salim prison. He
0:12:50 > 0:12:57was tortured with electric shocks. Some of the equipment they have
0:12:57 > 0:13:01ceased is sickeningly familiar to him. TRANSLATION: This is an
0:13:01 > 0:13:05electric rod which they started torturing me with from the first
0:13:05 > 0:13:11day. They pressed it on my chest and used the electric roared on my
0:13:11 > 0:13:17chest. I kept saying I don't know anything. Panorama has now
0:13:17 > 0:13:21discovered evidence which supports his claims. The regime that we were
0:13:21 > 0:13:28doing secret deals with was filming It's torture. The evidence comes
0:13:28 > 0:13:33from a burnt-out ruins of Abu Salim prison itself. Amongst the debris,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38some crucial evidence survived. We have acquired hours of footage
0:13:38 > 0:13:42which shows the truth about how this regime treated some of its
0:13:42 > 0:13:49political opponents. It is chilling stuff, much of it far too gruesome
0:13:49 > 0:13:59to broadcast, but we can show you some. This was filmed in May this
0:13:59 > 0:14:01
0:14:01 > 0:14:05year. A prisoner blindfolded and Them than in the suit is from
0:14:05 > 0:14:11something called the Interrogation Committee -- the man. In the 1980s,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Moussa Koussa was said to be its director. This footage was a small
0:14:16 > 0:14:26fraction of what we found. There are more whippings, electric shocks,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28
0:14:28 > 0:14:33beatings. All of which reinforce the claims of others. Like my --
0:14:33 > 0:14:36like Nouri. He used to work for Moussa Koussa in the Security
0:14:36 > 0:14:42Service that he was suspected of being a double agent and working
0:14:42 > 0:14:47for foreign spy networks. TRANSLATION: there were nine or 10
0:14:47 > 0:14:51beatings, my body died and I couldn't feel anything anymore. But
0:14:51 > 0:14:56then they grabbed a metal instrument, which is a type of
0:14:56 > 0:15:00stapler used by traders to staple large cardboard boxes, and they
0:15:00 > 0:15:05began to, I apologise to the review is about this, they put my
0:15:05 > 0:15:12testicles inside the stapler and then they pressed -- I apologise to
0:15:12 > 0:15:19the viewers. Even before the torture started, Nouri had been
0:15:19 > 0:15:27paraded in front of his old boss, Moussa Koussa, the Jaouad Gharib
0:15:27 > 0:15:35would invite to Christmas lunch. -- the man that MI6 would invite to
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Christmas lunch. He was sitting down and he was very relaxed. I was
0:15:39 > 0:15:48in and really sad state. He was leading the session and everyone
0:15:48 > 0:15:52was sitting in their own chef. -- share. But he didn't know you were
0:15:52 > 0:15:57being badly treated? TRANSLATION: He knew I had been
0:15:57 > 0:16:02tortured and that my honour had been violated. He knew that well.
0:16:02 > 0:16:09Tonight we can show that Britain's friend, Moussa Koussa, was attached
0:16:09 > 0:16:14to the bloodiest massacre of Gaddafi's regime. When we searched
0:16:14 > 0:16:22former intelligence offices bombed out by NATO, we managed to salvage
0:16:22 > 0:16:27some of the regime's surveillance They show men gathering outside a
0:16:27 > 0:16:32mosque. Gaddafi didn't just round up political opponents but
0:16:32 > 0:16:36religious ones, too. This was taken during one of his random clampdowns
0:16:36 > 0:16:46on Muslims. They picked up those who appear the most devout and
0:16:46 > 0:16:52
0:16:52 > 0:16:56jailed them. Some were never seen This man was one of those arrested.
0:16:56 > 0:17:06Today, picking up his young son from school, few know what he went
0:17:06 > 0:17:10
0:17:10 > 0:17:20through as an inmate at Abu Salim At the time, Abdul Atti was a 24-
0:17:20 > 0:17:26year-old a moderate Muslim. He was taken to Abu Salim with no idea
0:17:26 > 0:17:31when he would be released. Conditions were even worse in 1996.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Malnutrition, no medicine, no electricity, no clean water. One
0:17:35 > 0:17:39day, a group of young inmates rebelled.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45TRANSLATION: The prison guard opened the door, they took the keys
0:17:45 > 0:17:50from him and beat him up and they tried to escape. The young man came
0:17:50 > 0:17:59out, then they came out and set off. They were aiming to escape but the
0:17:59 > 0:18:03door was locked. They couldn't get out. People that his machine gun. -
0:18:03 > 0:18:10- he pulled out his machine gun. Hundreds of prisoners were herded
0:18:10 > 0:18:17into the courtyards. The guards moved to the drift of walkways,
0:18:17 > 0:18:26machine guns trained on the inmates below. Shortly after 11 o'clock,
0:18:26 > 0:18:31they were awarded to fire. -- ordered to fire.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35TRANSLATION: We heard screams and beatings and from 11 o'clock to
0:18:35 > 0:18:401:30pm, we heard continuous beatings. We did not know what
0:18:40 > 0:18:45happened exactly and how many were killed. We didn't guess that they
0:18:45 > 0:18:51killed just about everyone. More than 1200 inmates were slaughtered
0:18:51 > 0:18:56that day. It took nearly three hours. Abdul Atti only survived
0:18:56 > 0:19:00because he was hidden by a sympathetic guard. Now, Panorama
0:19:00 > 0:19:10can reveal that one of the regime's inner circle present as the
0:19:10 > 0:19:16massacre unfolded was Moussa Koussa or, at the time, chief of spies.
0:19:16 > 0:19:25This man, Muftah, saw him. He spent nearly two decades in jail. Eight
0:19:25 > 0:19:29years of it in isolation. He still had just a hole in the
0:19:29 > 0:19:33ceiling for light. On the day of the massacre, Muftah was
0:19:33 > 0:19:36negotiating face-to-face with Moussa Koussa on behalf of the
0:19:36 > 0:19:40prisoners. TRANSLATION: Moussa Koussa was
0:19:40 > 0:19:44careful to make sure he was present from the beginning and he made
0:19:44 > 0:19:52threats and said to me personally, you don't deserve to live. He often
0:19:52 > 0:19:55made threats. Moussa Koussa was there and he was among those who
0:19:55 > 0:20:02promise the prisoners that if they went back to their cells, nothing
0:20:02 > 0:20:06would happen to them. But they were betrayed. They killed 1200
0:20:06 > 0:20:12prisoners and Moussa Koussa was amongst those who carried
0:20:12 > 0:20:18responsibility for this massacre. When Moussa Koussa came to Abu
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Salim Prison, people say he used these rooms as his offices. Often,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25he would leave the interrogation to his juniors and he would sit here
0:20:25 > 0:20:28and wait for the victim to be delivered with confession into his
0:20:29 > 0:20:37presence. On other occasions, he would be the one delivering the
0:20:37 > 0:20:43blows. TRANSLATION: First be stripped me
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and while I was being questioned, Moussa Koussa was shocking me on
0:20:46 > 0:20:52the neck with the electric rod and while I was talking he taught me,
0:20:52 > 0:20:58shut up, and he struck me with the electric rod on my tooth and broke
0:20:58 > 0:21:01it. The man the UK made deals with over rendition and to give
0:21:01 > 0:21:08assurances there would be no torture had actually tortured
0:21:08 > 0:21:14people himself. Weeks into the Libyan uprising, Moussa Koussa
0:21:14 > 0:21:24began to make his move. He arrived at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli to
0:21:24 > 0:21:26
0:21:26 > 0:21:31renounce a bogus ceasefire on It was a rare public appearance
0:21:31 > 0:21:35from such a secretive figure, by now Gaddafi's foreign minister. At
0:21:35 > 0:21:39the time, his colleagues were shouting for the blood of rebels
0:21:39 > 0:21:46but those present said Moussa Koussa or looked uncomfortable,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51shaky even. He was clearly struggling to toe the party line.
0:21:51 > 0:21:58Now we know why. These were his last days in Libya. Soon after, he
0:21:58 > 0:22:02slipped away. He crossed the border into Tunisia and then onto a
0:22:02 > 0:22:08country he trusted, with whom he had done grubby business before:
0:22:08 > 0:22:13The UK. He arrived by private jet at Farnborough air base and was
0:22:13 > 0:22:16then whisked off to a safe house. He was protected by special bronze
0:22:16 > 0:22:23offices and agreed to be interviewed briefly by Lockerbie
0:22:23 > 0:22:28investigators -- Special Branch officers. As a reward for his
0:22:28 > 0:22:36defection, his assets in the West were unfrozen. Now he could tap
0:22:36 > 0:22:41into his significant wealth. Good afternoon. The government came
0:22:41 > 0:22:46under pressure over questions about white Moussa Koussa haven't been
0:22:46 > 0:22:50arrested. They promised there had been no secret deal. Let me be
0:22:50 > 0:22:57clear, Moussa Koussa is not being granted immunity. There is no deal
0:22:57 > 0:23:02of that kind. There is no immunity from prosecution, there will be no
0:23:02 > 0:23:07immunity. He hasn't asked for that. BBC News arranged and night-time
0:23:07 > 0:23:11meeting with Moussa Koussa through British officials. They weren't
0:23:11 > 0:23:19allowed questions, there would just be a statement.
0:23:19 > 0:23:28TRANSLATION: I personally have relations and good relations with
0:23:29 > 0:23:33so many Britons. We worked together against terrorism. Then, Moussa
0:23:33 > 0:23:38Koussa said he was off, just for a few days, for a meeting about the
0:23:38 > 0:23:45future of Libya, to be held in the Gulf state of Qatar. The British
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Government allowed him to leave. He never came back. When we asked the
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Foreign Office why they allowed Moussa Koussa to go on his
0:23:52 > 0:23:58apparently endless trip to Qatar, they said, Moussa Koussa is a
0:23:58 > 0:24:01private individual who is free to travel to and from the UK. It is
0:24:01 > 0:24:06not our place to provide a running commentary on his movements and
0:24:06 > 0:24:12current activities. But when we asked for reassurance he was going
0:24:12 > 0:24:16to come back, maybe sent somebody with him, same response. "it is not
0:24:16 > 0:24:21our placed to provide a running commentary". What about torture?
0:24:21 > 0:24:25They said, we never condoned torture. As for the specific
0:24:25 > 0:24:33allegations, there is something unique to take up with the Libyan
0:24:33 > 0:24:37authorities. -- those are things you need to take up. It was up to
0:24:37 > 0:24:41us to find him. We suspected he was still in Qatar, the tiny Arab
0:24:41 > 0:24:44emirate in the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the UK let him go because
0:24:44 > 0:24:51he knew secrets which the British Government would prefer never to
0:24:51 > 0:24:55have surfaced. A man with his wealth would choose only the most
0:24:55 > 0:25:04exclusive and discreet of places. We found him in a five-star hotel
0:25:04 > 0:25:10in Doha. And here he is. In the corner of the restaurant. Scouring
0:25:10 > 0:25:17the room for anyone suspicious. On the right of the screen, it is his
0:25:17 > 0:25:23bodyguard. He knows Moussa Koussa could be assassinated at any moment.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29Hello, Mr Koussa. BBC Television. How many people are you responsible
0:25:29 > 0:25:34for torturing, Mr Koussa? How many people are you responsible for
0:25:34 > 0:25:41torturing? These are all questions the International Criminal Courts...
0:25:41 > 0:25:48These are... Excuse me. I want to know his role in the massacre of
0:25:48 > 0:25:53more than 1,000 people in 1996, that is all I want to know. Mr
0:25:53 > 0:26:00Koussa. I am interested in your role of the massacre of 1,000
0:26:00 > 0:26:03people in 1996. Were you involved? Go! Qatar the government security
0:26:03 > 0:26:09intervened and confiscated our footage but what they didn't
0:26:09 > 0:26:13realise was that we have secretly filmed with another two cameras.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18With all the rest of Gaddafi's family and inner circle either dead
0:26:18 > 0:26:22or on the run, there are bound to be more questions about why such an
0:26:22 > 0:26:26important figure was allowed to leave the UK.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31TRANSLATION: Moussa Koussa, to be honest, Western governments should
0:26:31 > 0:26:35know the truth about him. He is a murderer and the criminal and his
0:26:35 > 0:26:40only concern was that his corrupt regime, which ruled Libya with iron
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and fire, should remain in power. This is why it is imperative that
0:26:43 > 0:26:50the West must hand over this criminal to justice and he must
0:26:50 > 0:26:54receive his punishment. Back in Libya, on rough desert behind Abu
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Salim Prison, Abdul Atti is searching for the body of his
0:26:58 > 0:27:04brother. He was killed in the prison massacre.
0:27:04 > 0:27:10TRANSLATION: My brother was a really beloved man in every sense
0:27:10 > 0:27:20of that word. He knew God's book. He was a much better man than I am
0:27:20 > 0:27:24
0:27:24 > 0:27:29Sami is here, too. The Gaddafi opponent jailed after a deal
0:27:29 > 0:27:36between Britain and Moussa Koussa. He had two brothers killed in the
0:27:36 > 0:27:43same event. Now families are digging for the bodies of more than
0:27:43 > 0:27:471,000 missing inmates. The earth is starting to surrender its secrets
0:27:47 > 0:27:51but the truth about Gaddafi's murderous regime lies with those
0:27:51 > 0:27:54still living, the people who committed these crimes against
0:27:54 > 0:28:01humanity and to commit in the end, we have to account for what they
0:28:01 > 0:28:06did. -- and who, in the end. On Thursday, a Panorama special,