AGENTS CAPTURED:LIBYA'S REBEL commanders last night freed two MI6 officers and six SAS soldiers captured by farm guards last Thursday, after the British government vouched for their identities.
The group was immediately flown to the frigate HMS Cumberland, which remains stationed off the coast of Libya.
Seven of the group had been taken by helicopter into farmland near the rebel capital Benghazi on a mission to establish contact with anti-regime forces.
The eight Britons had been detained and questioned since Thursday by rebel leaders who had suspected they were mercenaries.
Challenged by guards at a wheat farm, they were forced to open bags containing weapons, reconnaissance equipment, and multiple passports, then herded into a dormitory before they were handed over to the rebels.
UK foreign minister William Hague confirmed last night that the “diplomatic team” had left Libya after experiencing “difficulties”. He said another team would be sent in after consultation with the opposition leadership.
The group’s capture is a major embarrassment to the British government and could potentially undermine the rebels’ claims that the revolution, which has rippled through Libya for the past fortnight, has had solely domestic roots.
Officials in Benghazi’s organising committee, which is trying to organise civilian and military affairs, yesterday criticised the British team’s decision to make a clandestine entry into the country, claiming it had fuelled doubts about their intentions.
“We don’t want new enemies, but this is no way to make contact,” said a senior member of the committee, Essam Gheriani. “Dropping in in the dead of night with espionage equipment, recording devices, multiple weapons and passports. It is a matter of verification. At a time of revolution, suspicion is greater than trust,” he said.
Last night a recording of a telephone conversation between the UK’s ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and a senior rebel leader was leaked by Libyan authorities. Mr Northern suggested the SAS team had been detained due to a “misunderstanding”.
The rebel leader responded: “They made a big mistake, coming with a helicopter in an open area. I didn’t know how they were coming.” – (Guardian service)