Evidence grows of Blair's links with Gaddafi
The former prime minister met twice with the Libyan leader after the Lockerbie bombing
By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor Sunday, 18 September 2011
AP The former PM Tony Blair and Colonel Gaddafi shake hands on 29 May 2007 after an hour long meeting
Tony Blair's shadowy links with Muammar Gaddafi were thrust into the spotlight again last night after it emerged that
he met the former Libyan dictator twice for secret talks in the run-up to the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
A collection of documents found in Tripoli have revealed that Mr Blair was flown to Libya twice on one of Colonel Gaddafi's private jets after he left office in the UK, according to a report in The Sunday Telegraph. In the letters and emails, Mr Blair's private office repeatedly refers to Gaddafi as "The Leader".
The meetings, in 2008 and 2009, came at a time when Libya was threatening to cut all business links with the UK if Abdelbaset al-Megrahi stayed in a British jail.
The correspondence, between Mr Blair's office, the British ambassador in Tripoli and the Libyan ambassador in London, raise possible conflicts of interest regarding his roles as Middle East peace envoy, philanthropist and consultant.
The former prime minister, who brought a US billionaire to one of the meetings,
makes no reference to the trips on any of his websites.
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