Sunday 3 April 2011

Libya: Gaddafi official Abdelati Obeidi 'leaves Libya'

[This is the headline over a report published this afternoon on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]

An official from Muammar Gaddafi's embattled government has left Libya and is said to have flown to Athens.

There was no immediate official comment on the departure of Abdelati Obeidi, a deputy foreign minister, whose car was seen crossing into Tunisia.

A security source at Tunisia's Djerba airport told Reuters that Mr Obeidi had flown to the Greek capital.

A Greek government source said the official had come to deliver a message from Colonel Gaddafi, Reuters said. (...)

Mr Obeidi accompanied the minister [Moussa Koussa] to Djerba but returned to Libya on that occasion while Mr Koussa flew on to London, AFP news agency reports.

At the foreign ministry, Mr Obeidi is responsible for European affairs.

[Abdel Ati al-Obeidi has been the chairman of the Libyan government's "Lockerbie Committee" since at least 1993. He has held over the years various posts in the Libyan regime, including Head of State; Prime Minister; Foreign Minister; Ambassador to various countries, including Italy; and Colonel Gaddafi's chef de cabinet. It would surprise me somewhat if his absence from Libya were other than temporary.]

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