Gaddafi’s Malta spies provided lists of expats who met Goma Gomati – embassy

The news agency is claiming a document provided by the embassy in Malta, suggests that a number of Libyans who allegedly met with Goma Gomati (now the ambassador to London) should be kidnapped.

Details of the document were not disclosed.

The intelligence briefings were found by Al Jazeera in a sealed envelope on Libyan intelligence mastermind Abdullah Alsinnousi's abandoned desk in Libyan Intelligence Headquarters.

Tripoli had even sent over two ‘diplomats’ to oversee operations at the Libyan embassy in Malta, according to Gaddafi's last ambassador here, Saadun Suayeh. "I managed to skive them and secretly meet with representatives of the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council, during which meeting we shared information and worked on strategies on the way forward.."

In an interview with MaltaToday, Suayeh said he deceived Tripoli into passing on sensitive information on important cargo that was to be received by the regime. “I would receive note verbales from Tripoli, pressuring my embassy to have the Mirage fighter jets released by Malta, while other messages were regarding ships laden with gasoil for the forces,” he said, adding that he would then forward the information to the Maltese government who would intervene to stop the cargo, or share the intelligence with other countries.

It is not yet known whether Gaddafi's spies in Malta were aware that Misurata’s most senior rebel commanders were assisted by the Maltese government for secret talks at the French ambassador’s home in Zebbug, just four weeks before the rebels final assault on Tripoli.

General Ramadan Zarmuh, Colonel Ahmed Hashem, Colonel Brahim Betal Mal, and Suleiman Fortiya, Misurata’s minister on the Benghazi-based Transitional Council, were brought to Malta by sea on the French navy ship Mistral and given special visas to land and attend the talks which were held here on 19 July.

Libyan ambassador Saadun Suayeh managed to attend the secret meeting and talk with the Misurata representatives.

Gaddafi's double-agent

It appears Col. Muammar Gaddafi's spy network was able to intercept highly sensitive emails, including those from National Transitional Council chief Mahmoud Jibril.

One such email appears to be from the foreign ministry of Cyprus to leaders in Benghazi, outlining a planned visit by their foreign minister to the NTC’s stronghold.

Other documents found in the Intelligence Headquarters suggested that Gaddafi’s secret services were not limited to Libyan borders. Government officials all over the world – in Libyan embassies – were used to spy on expatriates supporting the opposition from abroad.

According to a top-secret document, Gaddafi even had double-agents working at the highest levels of the rebel movement at least until the fall of Tripoli. The documents detail key weapons sites across the Western Mountains, with a focus on the pivotal town of Azzawiya, which proved to be the rebels’ gateway into the capital, Tripoli.

One of the spies appears to have provided Gaddafi’s forces with maps and identified National Transitional Council (NTC) commanders who were to lead the attack on Ghazaya and Azzawiya, together with the forces and vehicles the rebel leaders had available.

The documents also suggest that the Libyan rebel fighters were using refugee camps on the Libyan border set up by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to smuggle in weapons and pick up trucks. Gaddafi’s spies (whose names Al Jazeera has redacted) suggested that the rebels had the permission of the Tunisian prime minister and his army chief to use the camps as a base.

“There are 4×4 vehicles in the Qatar, Kuwaiti and UAE camps, equipped with automatic weapons and hidden under tents,” reads one document. The agent who wrote the briefing also singled out the names of NTC leaders, suggesting they be targeted for assassination.

In return for this information, the double agent expected the Libyan government to meet his three demands – by providing a luxurious car, preferably a white BMW; paying out an ‘exceptional’ amount of cash; and supplying him with a Thuraya satellite phone to use for ‘sensitive’ phone calls.