CIA, MI6 helped Gaddafi on dissidents - rights group

Documents with photographs and details of people wanted by the Libyan External Security office are seen in the abandoned office where Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief and foreign minister Moussa Koussa was based in Tripoli September 3, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Anis Mili)

Sat Sep 3, 2011

By Yvonne Bell

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Documents found in the abandoned Tripoli office of Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence chief indicate the U.S. and British spy agencies helped the fallen strongman persecute Libyan dissidents, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

The documents were uncovered by the human rights activist group in the abandoned offices of Libya's former spy chief and foreign minister, Moussa Koussa.

The group said it uncovered hundreds of letters between the CIA, MI6 and Koussa, who is now in exile in London. Letters from the CIA began, "Dear Moussa," and were signed informally with first names only by CIA officials, Human Rights Watch said.

The current military commander for Tripoli of Libya's provisional government, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, was among those captured and sent to Libya by the CIA, Human Rights Watch said.

"Among the files we discovered at Moussa Koussa's office is a fax from the CIA dated 2004 in which the CIA informs the Libyan government that they are in a position to capture and render Belhadj," Human Rights Watch's Peter Bouckaert, who was part of the group that found the stash, told Reuters.

"That operation actually took place. He was captured by the CIA in Asia and put on a secret flight back to Libya where he was interrogated and tortured by the Libyan security services."

The files shed new light on the practice known as rendition, used by the United States under former President George W. Bush, in which the terrorism suspects were handed over to other countries for interrogation. Rights groups have criticized the United States for sending these suspects to countries where they were likely to be tortured.

HANDED OVER FOR TORTURE

Belhadj has said that he was tortured by CIA agents before being transferred to Libya, where he says he was then tortured at Tripoli's notorious Abu Salim prison.

Western intelligence services began cooperating with Libya after Gaddafi abandoned his programme to build unconventional weapons in 2004. But the files show his cooperation with the CIA and MI6 may have been more extensive than previously thought, analysts say.

The depth of the ties could anger officials in Libya's provisional government -- many of whom are long-term opponents of Gaddafi and are now responsible for charting a new path for Libya's foreign relations.

Bouckaert showed Reuters photos of several documents on his computer and also photos of letters he said were from the CIA to Koussa and were signed, "Steve." He also displayed photographs he said were of letters from MI6 giving Libyan intelligence information on Libyan dissidents in Britain.

"Our concern is that when these people were handed over to the Libyan security they were tortured and the CIA knew what would happen when they sent people like Abdel Hakim into the hands of the Libyan security services," Bouckaert said.

In Washington, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood, without commenting on any specific allegation or document, said: "It can't come as a surprise that the Central Intelligence Agency works with foreign governments to help protect our country from terrorism and other deadly threats. That is exactly what we are expected to do."

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added: "There are lots of countries willing to take terrorists off the street who want to kill Americans. That doesn't mean U.S. concerns about human rights are ignored in the process."

"Let's keep in mind the context here," the official added. "By 2004, the U.S. had successfully convinced the Libyan government to renounce its nuclear weapons program and to help stop terrorists who were actively targeting Americans in the US and abroad."

A British government spokesman told Reuters that Britain did "not comment on intelligence matters."

More recent documents showed that after the war broke out six months ago, Libya reached out to a former rebel group in the breakaway Somali state of Puntland, the Somali Salvation Front, asking them to send 10,000 fighters to Tripoli to help defend Gaddafi.

(Additional reporting by Jim Wolf in Washington; Writing by Barry Malone; Editing by Alastair Macdonald, Caroline Drees and Will Dunham)

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Wikileaks: 06HANOI249, EAP A/S Hill's Meeting with Vietnamese FM Nguyen [-US concerns over Hun Xen]

For example, the situation in Cambodia is

worrisome. Hun Sen is creating problems and may be turning

Cambodia into the next Burma. FM Nien responded that Hun

Sen "will listen if you speak frankly to him."

Reference ID: 06HANOI249

Created: 2006-02-06 09:47

Released: 2011-08-30 01:44

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Origin: Embassy Hanoi

VZCZCXRO6788

RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM

DE RUEHHI #0249/01 0370947

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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0669

INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0441

RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000249

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SENSITIVE

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E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL PGOV APEC ETRD PHUM CB CH BM KN VM

SUBJECT: EAP A/S Hill's Meeting with Vietnamese FM Nguyen

Dzy Nien

HANOI 00000249 001.2 OF 002

¶1. (SBU) Summary: During his meeting January 13 with

Foreign Minister Nguyen Dzy Nien, EAP Assistant Secretary

Christopher R. Hill underlined the need for the United

States and Vietnam to systematize their bilateral

discussions on issues of mutual interest, such as Burma and

Cambodia; expressed support for strong regional

architecture; and pressed Vietnam to make progress on WTO

and improve its human rights situation. FM Nien pledged to

work closely with the United States to make the President's

November visit to Hanoi a success; said Vietnam would

welcome and strongly support the United States as an

observer at the East Asia Summit; noted that the DPRK's

foreign minister plans to visit Vietnam in the first half of

2006; and agreed that the situations in Burma and Cambodia

are troubling. End Summary.

¶2. (SBU) EAP Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill opened

his 30-minute meeting with Foreign Minister Nguyen Dzy Nien

January 13 by outlining his talks earlier in the day with

senior MFA officials responsible for American and Asian

affairs (septels, full participants list in paragraph 10).

These discussions had been valuable and pointed to a need to

systematize bilateral contacts on areas of mutual interest,

such as Southeast Asia and China. The Foreign Minister

responded that, based on the briefing he had received on

these earlier discussions, he shares most of A/S Hill's

views of bilateral, regional and global issues.

High-level Visits to Vietnam

----------------------------

¶3. (SBU) A/S Hill conveyed the greetings of the Secretary,

who had had a valuable meeting with FM Nien in Busan in

November 2005. President Bush himself is looking forward to

visiting Vietnam, to which FM Nien replied that the GVN is

ready to welcome him and work closely with the USG and

Embassy to ensure a successful outcome. Developing a

roadmap for the visit over the next several months would be

useful, FM Nien opined. A/S Hill responded that he plans to

visit Vietnam again, perhaps in the spring, for discussions

on our bilateral agenda.

Regional Issues

---------------

¶4. (SBU) As A/S Hill had told VFM Le Van Bang earlier in the

day, the United States and Vietnam have many issues of

common interest and need to have a structured dialogue to

exchange views. For example, the situation in Cambodia is

worrisome. Hun Sen is creating problems and may be turning

Cambodia into the next Burma. FM Nien responded that Hun

Sen "will listen if you speak frankly to him."

¶5. (SBU) Within ASEAN, Burma remains the odd man out, and

A/S Hill said he would meet the Malaysian Foreign Minister

to discuss this matter later in the week. Instead of

regional actors such as ASEAN, China and India taking turns

shifting responsibility to one another when it comes to

addressing the Burma problem, a more coordinated approach is

needed. Burma has great potential and natural resource

wealth, but the problem is how to develop, FM Nien observed.

The current situation is not good for Burma or the region.

Although ASEAN has its non-interference principle, this does

not mean that it cannot express its views. There are

certain ways that states need to behave, A/S Hill said, and

it is sometimes hard to draw a line between internal and

external affairs. FM Nien expressed his agreement.

¶6. (SBU) Another issue raised in A/S Hill's other meetings

was North Korea. FM Nien noted that the DPRK had reacted

strongly to the July 2004 mass defection of North Koreans

from Ho Chi Minh City to Seoul. Now, both countries

continue to work to "normalize" their relations, and the

DPRK Foreign Minister plans to visit Vietnam in the first

half of 2006. China needs to take greater responsibility

for North Korea, A/S Hill stressed, but the historic nature

of the DPRK-PRC relationship makes this difficult.

¶7. (SBU) On regional architecture, A/S Hill noted that the

December East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur. The U.S.

continues to welcome regional cooperation and integration,

and would pay close attention to the EAS. On the ASEAN

Regional Forum, A/S Hill said that the Secretary plans to

attend this year's meeting in Kuala Lumpur. This reflects

our commitment to the region. FM Nien said that Vietnam

seeks an EAS that is inclusive and would welcome and

strongly support observer status for the United States and

Russia.

HANOI 00000249 002.2 OF 002

WTO

---

¶8. (SBU) FM Nien said Vietnam is looking forward to next

week's bilateral WTO accession talks. A/S Hill replied

that, the sooner Vietnam joins, the sooner Vietnam's economy

will reap the benefits. We should not miss this window of

opportunity, particularly because this is an election year

in the United States. We have to move quickly.

Human Rights

------------

¶9. (SBU) Noting the upcoming Human Rights Dialogue

(scheduled for February 20), A/S hill said it would be

important for DRL A/S Lowenkron to be able to meet whomever

he would like to meet. The United States does not want the

issues of human rights and religious freedom to burden the

bilateral relationship, and we need to see Vietnam make

further progress. FM Nien noted that former Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore had often said that his country

had been able to avoid criticism about its human rights

situation because it was open. FM Nien thus often told his

colleagues in the GVN, including the Ministry of Public

Security, that Vietnam needs to be more open. A/S Hill

agreed, noting that the more open a country is, the stronger

it is.

¶10. (U) Participants:

United States

-------------

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill

Ambassador Michael W. Marine

EAP Special Assistant Kamala Lakhdhir

Pol/C Marc Knapper (notetaker)

Vietnam

-------

Foreign Minister Nien

Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung

Americas Department Deputy Director Nguyen Anh Dzung

U.S. Desk Director Nguyen Hoanh Nam

U.S. Desk Officer Lai Thai Binh

¶11. (U) A/S Hill has cleared this message.

BOARDMAN

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Vatican rejects cover-up claims over Cloyne report

The Vatican has rejected claims by Irish PM Enda Kenny that it sabotaged efforts by Irish bishops to report child-molesting priests to police.



It follows the damning Cloyne Report that showed how allegations of clerical sex-abuse in Cork had been covered up.



In a speech to parliament in July, Mr Kenny accused the Church of putting its reputation ahead of abuse victims.



The Vatican said it was "sorry and ashamed" over the scandal but said his claims were "unfounded".



"The Holy See is deeply concerned at the findings of the commission of inquiry concerning grave failures in the ecclesiastical governance of the diocese of Cloyne," said the Vatican, in a detailed response to the allegations.



"The Holy See... in no way hampered or sought to interfere in any inquiry into cases of child sex abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne."



"Furthermore, at no stage did the Holy See seek to interfere with Irish civil law or impede the civil authority in the exercise of its duties."

'Misinterpretation'



Mr Kenny had told the Irish parliament that the report into how allegations of sex abuse by priests in Cork had been covered up showed change was urgently needed. "The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation'," he said.



Parliament then passed a motion deploring the Holy See for "undermining child protection frameworks" after a letter to Irish bishops appeared to diminish Irish guidelines on reporting sex abuse by referring to them as "study guidelines".



The Vatican then recalled its special envoy in Dublin, Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza, to discuss the impact of the report.



But the Holy See's response, published on Saturday, said Mr Kenny's blistering accusations were based on a misinterpretation of a 1997 Vatican letter expressing "serious reservations" about the Irish bishops' 1996 policy requiring bishops to report abusers to police.



"In a spirit of humility, the Holy See, while rejecting unfounded accusations, welcomes all objective and helpful observations and suggestions to combat with determination the appalling crime of sexual abuse of minors," said the statement.



Released in July, the 400-page Cloyne Report found that Bishop John Magee - who stood down in March 2009 after serving as bishop of Cloyne since 1987 - had falsely told the government and the health service that his diocese was reporting all abuse allegations to authorities.



It also found that the bishop deliberately misled another inquiry and his own advisors by creating two different accounts of a meeting with a priest suspected of abusing a child - one for the Vatican and the other for diocesan files.



It discovered that, contrary to repeated assertions on its part, the Diocese of Cloyne did not implement the procedures set out in the Church protocols for dealing with allegations of child sex-abuse. It said the greatest failure was that no complaints, except one in 1996, were reported to the health authorities until 2008.



It said the disturbing findings were compounded by the fact that the commission found that the Vatican's response to the Church guidelines was entirely unhelpful and gave comfort and support to those who dissented from the guidelines. It said this was "wholly unacceptable".



Cardinal Sean Brady, leader of Ireland's four million Catholics, said the time that it took the Vatican to respond to the Cloyne report, and the thoroughness of its reply, showed how seriously it took the issue.



"I believe it will contribute to the healing of those who have been hurt and also to a closer working together of all concerned with the safeguarding of children," he said in a statement.

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Wikileaks: 06HANOI243, VIETNAM: ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL'S CALL ON

On Cambodia, the United States is

concerned about Hun Sen's recent decisions to arrest

government critics.

Reference ID: 06HANOI243

Created: 2006-02-06 06:53

Released: 2011-08-30 01:44

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Origin: Embassy Hanoi

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INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0432

RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000243

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STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EB/TPP/BTA/ANA

STATE PASS USTR FOR EBRYAN AND GHICKS

USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO

TREASURY FOR OASIA

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: ETRD EINV WTRO PREL PGOV TBIO VM

SUBJECT: VIETNAM: ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL'S CALL ON

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VU KHOAN

HANOI 00000243 001.2 OF 003

Sensitive but unclassified protect accordingly.

¶1. (SBU) Summary and Introduction: On January 13,

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill met with Deputy

Prime Minister Vu Khoan. The Deputy Prime Minister

laid out a roadmap of five steps to prepare for the

visit of President Bush in November: work to close

bilateral WTO market access negotiations in the first

quarter, set up a political consultative mechanism to

oversee preparations, review deliverables, expand

humanitarian cooperation and settle outstanding issues

such as the Country of Particular Concern (CPC)

designation. Assistant Secretary Hill suggested that

Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang direct the

consultations, called for conclusion of the WTO talks,

expressed the desire to discuss regional issues and

noted that APEC issues would also need to be included.

A/S Hill said he would return to Hanoi in the spring to

continue preparations for the President's visit. End

summary.

¶2. (SBU) EAP Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill,

accompanied by Ambassador Marine, met with Deputy Prime

Minister Vu Khoan on January 13. Vietnam's Assistant

Minister for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hung

also attended. Expressing satisfaction with the

development of bilateral relations, A/S Hill

congratulated the DPM on Vietnam's economic

achievements. The DPM concurred with A/S Hill's

assessment that relations are going well, but pointed

out that there is more to do. Remarking that Vietnam

will host APEC in 2006, he said that he was pleased

that President Bush would come to Vietnam. Prime

Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to Washington last year

had been a great success and a high mark in bilateral

relations. It is therefore important to maintain this

momentum in the run-up to the President's visit to

ensure that relations will move to a higher level.

¶3. (SBU) Since the focus of the 2006 relationship would

be preparations for President Bush's visit, Vu Khoan

enumerated a roadmap of five concrete steps.

Vietnam's top priority is concluding the bilateral WTO

negotiations. Pleased that the U.S. team will come to

Vietnam next week, DPM Khoan noted that these

negotiations are not only important to Vietnam, but are

in the best interest of promoting bilateral relations.

For this reason Vietnam's team had been instructed to

do its utmost to conclude the negotiations early. The

two negotiating teams will hopefully bear in mind that

Vietnam is ready to go further within the framework of

current WTO rules, especially with respect to its level

of development, but Vietnam hopes that the U.S. team

will not seek to impose conditions from Free Trade

Agreements or the unconcluded Doha Round. The DPM

clarified that he does not intend to shirk any existing

WTO rules, but to avoid future possible rules, he

stressed. Completing the bilateral negotiations in the

first quarter of this year would be very good.

¶4. (SBU) To prepare for the President's visit, the

Deputy Prime Minister issued another call for the

bilateral political consultations that the Prime

Minister had proposed in June in Washington. Such

consultations could take place in Hanoi or Washington

at a level subject to agreement by both sides. The two

countries would need to review which agreements could

be concluded during the President's visit, such as the

bilateral maritime agreement reached in principle in

December 2005. On humanitarian issues, the DPM

expressed satisfaction with bilateral cooperation on

POW/MIA accounting and HIV-AIDS. Vietnam welcomes U.S.

support on avian influenza and hopes for even more

cooperation in this area. It is important to clear up

any outstanding issues prior to the President's visit,

such as Vietnam's designation as a Country of

Particular Concern. Vietnam is prepared to discuss

this matter in order to find a solution. While there

are other issues, these are the ones needing attention

HANOI 00000243 002.2 OF 003

before November, the DPM emphasized. Exchanges between

legislators is another way to boost relations. People-

to-people ties are also important. DPM Khoan expressed

his desire to work closely with the Assistant Secretary

and the Ambassador to prepare for President Bush's trip

to Vietnam. Cooperation with the United States is

necessary for the APEC Summit to be successful, he

concluded.

¶5. (SBU) Observing that 2005 had been a very busy year,

A/S Hill said that there is potential for a rich

harvest in 2006, but there is much work to do. On WTO

accession, the U.S. side would also be giving some

clear instructions to the U.S. negotiating team.

Success in the coming week is important and critical in

the next few weeks because this is a Congressional

election year. The bilateral WTO agreement will be of

great importance to U.S. firms as well as to Vietnamese

firms. Trade has risen dramatically since the

Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect and

investment is also rising. A/S Hill called on the DPM

to help make the negotiations for the bilateral

agreement move forward. He voiced support for the

DPM's proposal for a systematic review of bilateral

relations and suggested that MFA Vice Minister Le Van

Bang head the GVN delegation. The review would need to

cover bilateral issues, APEC issues and regional

concerns. A/S Hill also praised Vietnam's rapid

economic growth rate and its efforts on AI.

Regional Issues

---------------

¶6. (SBU) DPM Khoan said that regional issues are of

great importance. Some regional developments had not

been seen in the previous century, such as the rise of

China. Vietnam and its neighbors pay a lot of

attention to their relations with China. New forums

such as the East Asia Summit are emerging. Relations

between China and Japan were also important. While

both are Vietnam's friends, sometimes it is torn

between them on issues such as UN Security Council

enlargement. New developments in the region require

new attitudes. Given such important changes, the U.S.

role is key. More attention from the United States is

important; otherwise, other players will fill the

vacuum.

¶7. (SBU) A/S Hill pledged to pay greater attention to

ASEAN and said that Secretary Rice will attend the next

ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines. The United

States wants to work with China and Japan, but not to

compete with them. Relations with China are good, but

the rising trade surplus is unsustainable. Laid-off

U.S. workers tend to blame China for their job losses,

even those resulting from exports from other countries.

On the East Asia Summit, A/S Hill expressed the desire

for the EAS to be open and transparent so that no one

concludes it is meant to exclude other countries. He

expressed concern about Burma, which he termed "in

another world." On Cambodia, the United States is

concerned about Hun Sen's recent decisions to arrest

government critics. The many tough issues before us

will require much hard work in 2006.

Human Right and Religious Freedom, CPC

--------------------------------------

¶8. (SBU) A/S Hill pressed for the DPM to work to make

the upcoming visit of DRL A/S Lowenkron successful

following the model of the successful visit by

Congressman Chris Smith. More progress on human rights

and religious freedom is necessary. The United States

wants to resolve these issues so as not to burden the

bilateral relationship.

¶9. (SBU) The DPM noted that it had not been easy to

allow (elderly dissident) Hoang Minh Chinh to go to the

United States for medical treatment and expressed

HANOI 00000243 003.2 OF 003

concern about Chinh's public criticism of Vietnam.

This cannot be allowed, he said. He expressed

willingness to have a dialogue about these issues,

noting that Vietnam does not want them to become an

obstacle to the larger relationship. A/S Hill

responded that openness made Vietnam look stronger and

more confident.

¶10. (SBU) A/S Hill said that he would be back in the

spring to work on the preparations for the President's

trip. The American people's impression of Vietnam is

very positive, and this is good for investment as

American firms take note of their customers' views.

Vietnam's economy is a rising star, one in which U.S.

firms want to participate. Concluding, the DPM said he

is pleased that the United States will have a new

embassy in Hanoi.

¶11. (U) Participants:

United States

-------------

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill

Ambassador Michael W. Marine

EAP Special Assistant Kamala Lakhdhir

Pol/C Marc Knapper

Econ/C Sam Watson (notetaker)

Vietnam

-------

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan

Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung

Americas Department Deputy Director Nguyen Anh Dzung

U.S. Desk Officer Lai Thai Binh

¶12. (U) A/S Hill has cleared this message.

BOARDMAN

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