David Cameron has been secretly consulting Tony Blair about Libya despite publicly criticising his links with Colonel Gaddafi. Senior officials say the Prime Minister has held at least two conversations in the past fortnight with the former Labour premier, now a Middle East peace envoy. Mr Cameron has consulted Mr Blair about the Libyan dictator’s state of mind and sought advice about how to make him quit. But yesterday the Prime Minister continued his public condemnation of Blairite links to Libya, telling MPs that Lord Mandelson, Baroness Symons and former defence minister Adam Ingram should refer themselves to the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which vets jobs of former ministers.
Lord Mandelson has twice met Gaddafi’s son Saif. Baroness Symons resigned this week as an adviser to the National Economic Development Board of Libya, while Mr Ingram works for a defence firm which has sought contracts in Libya.
In a rambling televised speech in Tripoli, the embattled despot lashed out at Europe and the United States and declared they faced ‘another Vietnam’ if they launch military action.
‘They will set foot in hell – worse than Afghanistan,’ he said. ‘We will enter a bloody war and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or Nato enters. We will fight until the last man and woman.
‘We are ready to hand out weapons to a million, or two million or three million, and another Vietnam will begin. It doesn’t matter to us. We no longer care about anything.’
Gaddafi – estimated to have personally squirrelled away billions from Libya’s oil revenues – insisted: ‘I am ready to have my accounts verified. My salary is only 465 dinars (£322). My riches are the Libyan people, I have no assets.’
The bellicose rhetoric came as Gaddafi ordered a military counter-attack against the rebels in Eastern Libya. His warplanes bombed pro-democracy fighters south of Benghazi.
Leaders of the opposition National Libyan Council called for UN-backed airstrikes against African mercenaries who are still being flown in by Gaddafi – but stressed that they did not want foreign troops on the ground. But with international support for even a no-fly zone flaky, Mr Cameron and his advisers are concerned the rebel forces will be unable to oust the dictator and his henchmen from their stronghold in the capital Tripoli.
The Prime Minister has been holding a series of secret briefings with academics and Libyan experts in the hope of finding a way forward and turning the screws on the regime.
He has denounced the ‘appalling dodgy deals’ between the Labour government and the Gaddafi regime, which led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber. But senior government sources have confirmed that contacts with Mr Blair have been conducted ‘at the highest levels’ – code for Mr Cameron.
It is understood the two men spoke just before the Prime Minister’s ill-fated trip to Egypt and the Gulf, during which he asked Mr Blair’s advice about Arab leaders. Mr Cameron has also consulted Mr Blair since the former prime minister spoke to Colonel Gaddafi twice last Friday.
A senior Whitehall official said Mr Blair’s office warned Downing Street he was planning to talk to the Libyan despot, telling him it was time to go.
‘Then Blair got in touch again to say that he had spoken to Gaddafi and said he was going to speak to him again.’
Since then, Mr Cameron has discussed the situation personally with Mr Blair. A second senior source said: ‘It’s not a case of Cameron using him as a conduit to Gaddafi, it’s a case of picking his brains.’
Mr Cameron’s efforts to put pressure on the Gaddafi regime have created tensions with the Liberal Democrats.
While the Government has claimed a no-fly zone could be set up without a UN resolution, former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown, the former high representative in Bosnia, insisted it would be essential.
He said: ‘In my view, this can’t be done without a UN Security Council resolution.’ He added that support for military action had to be obtained from a wider ‘circle’ than the West and must include the Arab world.
■ David Cameron’s handling of the Middle East crisis has left the public urging him to focus on domestic policy instead.
A poll from ITV News and ComRes found that 66 per cent of voters thought the Prime Minister should concentrate on problems facing Britain.
The Government’s handling of the rescue of British citizens trapped in Libya was also criticised. Just 18 per cent thought it was well handled.
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